Yin and Yang
by Aldebran
Summary: The valley is throwing a festival for Po for defeating Shen a week ago. Problems arise as Po's inner peace falters as new feelings enter his mind and Tigress has been acting differently even since returning, can the problems in the Jade Palace be fixed?
1. Chapter 1

**Yin and Yang**

**Hey there Aldebran here, this my first fanfic ever. After reading other KFP work, I finally manned up and made my own. After coming back from Gong Men city, there is celebration for the savior of China, and even though it's in his honor he helps out with the festival (such a good guy) and at one point he notices a poster that catches his attention and makes him think about a certain female kung fu master. I do not own anything from Dream Works, Kung Fu Panda, its characters, its stories, etc.**

**Chapter 1- Preparations**

The valley of Peace

It was a new day in the Valley of Peace. At this point the valley was more busy than peaceful, as one would think it should be with everyone moving around getting their preparations finished for the Celebration to come.. It has been three days since Master Shifu, the Furious five, and the Dragon Warrior returned from Gong Men city after Po defeated Shen and saved all of China from his wrath and proved that Kung Fu triumphs over news of the Dragon Warrior defeating Shen and saving China spread all over the country within a matter of days. The villagers in the valley were so proud and honored to have such great warriors that they decided to throw the biggest celebration they could in honor of the Kung Fu masters that watched over them. In despite of the villagers saying, Po still decided that he wanted to help them prepare the celebration. Po was in the main streets helping hang up decorative Chinese lanterns. It was a good thing he was tall, everybody else in the village was about half his size and needed a ladder to reach almost anything. "Son stop working and come over here", said Mr. Ping, "sure thing, dad I'll be right over there" Po hanged up the last lantern and walked over to his dad's noodle shop. "Is there something you needed?" "Yes Po, I need you to relax, you seem to working every time I see you. You seem thinner ever since you came back, so sit down while I make you a big meal like in the old days." "Dad you don't have to do that, I feel fi-" Po was interrupted by Mr. Ping "I will not take no for an answer son! A father knows what's best for his son. Now one order of everything coming up!" Po chuckled a bit and said " alright then, thanks dad."

Meanwhile at the Jade Palace

"Where is the Dragon Warrior?" asked a slightly irritated Panda to his students in the training hall. "He's missing?" asked Tigress with more concern than she intended. " Yes, he was supposed to be training on his inner peace" "We haven't seen him since this morning" replied Monkey "the same for us master" said both Crane and Viper. " Maybe he's learning a new technique that involves food" joked Mantis. Tigress said " Maybe Mantis is right and he's in the kitchen. It is almost time for dinner." "No he is not in the kitchen, I have already checked all over the palace and haven't seen a trace of him. Hmm well no need to worry, he can handle himself, we'll wait and see, he usually doesn't leave for too long. Resume your training students." The Five resumed what they were doing as Master Shifu left the training hall, but one student couldn't concentrate on her training. Tigress was sparring with monkey, but had a few difficulties with her thoughts. She still beat monkey, but it took her longer than it usually did. _"I hope Po is okay and returns" _Tigress thought.

Back at Mr. Ping's noodle shop

"Thanks for the food dad, see you later" said Po "Anytime son, don't be a stranger" Po chuckled "wow I'm really full, usually I would still be able to save room for dessert. I'm losing my touch haha". Po began to see that the sun was setting and then he remembered that he had to go make dinner for the Five and Shifu (if he joins them). As he started jogging towards his old enemy, Staiirrrss, his attention was caught by some posters on a nearby wall. On the wall there posters of the Furious Five, _"they still look incredibly awesome" _thought Po, next to it was a poster of a beautiful peach tree on a cliff side. A slight smile came to and it reminded him a of a very special turtle he once knew. Next to that one was a lot flashier than the rest, it was a poster of Po posing in his fighting stance with China behind it and a golden dragon circling both Po and China. It read ' Come celebrate the savior of China, THE MIGHTY DRAGON WARRIOR! All are welcomed to this celebration'. The rest talked about the kind of festivities would occur at the event. The one poster that really caught his attention was an old poster that yellowed a bit with age. When he looked at it he saw a dragon and a tiger and there over the Yin and Yang. The tiger was over the Yin half and the dragon of the Yang side. The poster said balance can bring peace especially to opposites. He understood the balance part, but how could a dragon and a tiger be opposites.

Po decided to push that thought aside and go to the palace before it got too late. Halfway up the stairs Po started thinking about the poster again. '_Still don't get it, hmm maybe they represent others. The only closest thing to a dragon I know is uh well me and the only tiger I know is Tigress. So does that mean that if me and Master Tigress were together we'd be at peace and balanced?' _Po blushed violently as he thought of the word '_together' _" Ha! Yeah right like Master Tigress and me could ever be together" his tone gradually turned a little sadder " heh a panda and a a tiger. No...way eve-" before he could finish his sentence he didn't realize he was climbing the thousand steps of the Jade Palace and tripped on the 5 to last step, making him lose his balance and fall backwards. As he bounced on his way down, Po thought '_darn so clooose, and I'm getting a strange sense of deja vu"._

Jade Palace

"Alright everyone we can stop for today" Tigress said to the rest of the five. "Finally, I'm getting super hungry" said Mantis while stretching out his mandibles, " yeah me too" added Monkey. "You think Po will make his secret ingredient soup?" inquired Viper "I hope so. What do you think Tigress?" asked crane. "It doesn't matter what we eat, he just better not be late" she said rather coldly as she walked out through the doors and then thought '_or he'll regret it'_ . "Hmm do any of you think that Tigress has been acting differently ever since we returned from Gong Men city?" " She still seems as cold as ever haha" joked mantis, but quickly quieted as viper hissed at him "I'm serious you guys, she seems a bit more colder than before, but she only becomes this way when it involves Po" "now that you mention it, she was a bit mad after Po got hurt in the Gong Men Harbor even though he wasn't that injured." said Crane, " come on you guys, this is Tigress we're talking about, I'm sure this is nothing and it will quickly go away. For now let's go get ready dinner, last one there gets none of my almond cookies" Said Monkey as he ran out of the hall. With a few chuckles the rest followed to get ready for dinner.

Meanwhile near the Palace

Halfway up the thousand steps a panda was panting heavily and crawling on all fours saying "almost..there pant.. curse you... stairs... you will not beat the pant... Dragon...warrior. Phew the Five...make this look...easy."

**Chapter 1 end**

**Thank you for reading, please review and tell me what you thought. I thought it might be a bit dry, so please tell me if you think so too or not. I'll accept any review so I can get better, but please no hate mail unless if it's real criticism. Thanks again! I'll upload the next chapter as soon as I can.**


	2. Chapter 2 Inner Thoughts

**Yin and Yang**

**Hey there, Aldebran here, here's the new chapter, I changed the style a bit thanks to a review I got from a reader, you know who you are haha. Thanks for the reviews and telling me what you thought. It really helped, so without a further ado, on to the story.**

**Chapter 2- Inner Thoughts**

At the Jade Palace

"Phew...hah...haha take that stairs, you thought you could... beat me? Pfft yeah right, I'm the Dragon Warrior!"

Said Po while looking and pointing to the stairs. When he lifted his head he could barely make out the sun off in the far distance as the stars and moon have taken its place in the sky.

"Oh man, I'm so late, Master Shifu's going to kill me. We'll settle this another time stairs"

with that said Po raced off to the kitchen to get started on dinner.

In the Kitchen

"Sigh where's Po? I think my stomach is going to digest itself" said Mantis while staring at an empty bowl.

"Quit complaining, you won't die from missing one meal" said Tigress in a stern way "you don't know that" whispered Mantis, to which Tigress replied with an glare that could kill, instantly quieting Mantis.

"I'm sure Po is on his way, he probably just got caught up in something" reassured Viper " yeah that's probably it" said Crane.

"Hopefully he didn't run into trouble" said monkey in a worried tone.

Tigress instantly looked at monkey with rage filling her eyes, but before she could say anything, they heard loud and heavy foot steps that kept making the wooden floor boards squeak. Immediately everyone knew who could make such a loud noise and Monkey said with a smile " Hey Po's back!"

"Finally" exclaimed Mantis,

"see I told you he'd be back" said Viper proudly. Tigress resigned what she was going to say and sat back down on her seat. The doors to the kitchen opened and through them came a panting panda needed to catch his breath.

"Hey guys...pant phew made it. Sorry I'm late, I'll get started on dinner" and he turned towards the pots and started boiling water. "So did I miss anything good?" questioned Po,

"eh not much, just a regular day of training, except that Shifu was looking for you" said Monkey. Po tensed up as he mentioned Shifu, but quickly went back to cutting the vegetables for the broth.

"Heh really? I wasn't aware heh" said Po in a nervous way.

"Hmm we heard that you skipped out on training today without permission" said Tigress in a serious tone

"what? Me? Pfft no way, I was training on this uh new...Kung Fu move, yeah that!" "which move would that be?" asked Viper with a smile on her face, "uhh... the flying...fist of... um Xing" replied Po.

Everyone just stared at him with a look that showed none of them believed a single word "sigh fine, I went down to the village to help with the decorations. Did Shifu tell you that I left without permission?" "No, you just told us" said Tigress with a hint of irritation "haha you shouldn't play hooky to go have fun you know" said Monkey "yeah Shifu is going to be pretty mad with you when he finds you" said Crane.

"Yeah I figured as much, oh well still worth it. Order up!" Said Po as he handed out each a bowl of his secret ingredient soup. They all started eating it with smiles on their faces that clearly showed how much they liked it. Even tigress was eating his soup. Before she would just eat something else, never anything Po made. That started to change after Po defeated Tai Lung and it even became more apparent after he defeated Shen and saved all of China. If Tigress ate something that wasn't needed as part of her training then it meant that she liked it and that made Po very happy on the inside.

"Hey Po, aren't you going to have any of your soup?" asked Mantis, "Naw, I'm not that hungry, I'll just have a few bean buns" replied Po.

"Are you okay? You usually have more than that" asked Crane with a raised eyebrow "heh I would eat more, but I ate too much when I was in the village".

"So you **were** having fun while you were in the village" said Tigress while giving Po a sideways glance. "No, it's just that my dad got a hold of me as I was heading for the palace and wouldn't let me leave until I ate all the food he gave me haha" said Po defensively and the only thing that came out of Tigress' mouth was "hmm"

"so that's why you were late huh?" said Viper "heh yeah, well...that and probably because I fell backwards on the thousand steps as I got to the top so I had to climb back up agai-" before he could finish his sentence, a thought flashed through his mind, he remembered why he fell down the stairs. The Poster of the dragon and the tiger, as this thought went through his mind he turned his gaze to Tigress and before she could notice, he quickly returned his gaze to his bean buns. He could feel his cheeks turning red and was certain that Tigress would notice, and his white fur did not help at all.

"So you fell down the stairs again? Did you bounce?" asked a chuckling praying mantis, which again was silenced by Viper, "hah you know those stairs. Hey guys watch this!" Po said as he got out of his chair.

He needed to change the topic by making a distraction, so he used his chopsticks to pick up a bun and threw it into the air and the he used his head to bounce it up, the he used his right shoulder, then it bounced behind him, next he used his left heel to bounce it forward again, then his belly, and then finally caught it in his mouth.

"Nice one Po" exclaimed Mantis "if you think that was good watch this" Po then slammed his fist down and hit bowl causing the bean buns to fly into the air.

As they went down Po quickly caught them and then started to juggle them and after a while they all went flying into his mouth. "Haha good one Po, you really have a way with bean buns. Like the time you were able to put forty of those things your mouth at the same time! Haha priceless right Tigress" said Monkey as he held his sides "heh that is true".

"Well I don't mean to brag or nothing, but I do have bodacious skills when it comes to food hehe" Po said as he leaned one hand on the table while gesturing a look at his nails. Because he didn't really look where he placed his paw, the whole table flipped towards Po causing him to fall forward.

"Aaah" Po yelled as he fell down.

Luckily the five already picked up everything before the table flipped, saving the bowls and such. Tigress was the one to help lift the table off and help Po up. "Haha was that part of your act too Po cause I would like an encore" said Mantis while trying to hold his laughter in. "Heh if you liked that wait 'till you see my next performance with noodles heh."

"Enough playing around you guys, we better get ready for bed" said Viper as she yawned

"you guys go on ahead, I'll clean up here" said Po and quickly Tigress said "I'll help you" "oh thanks Tigress, but you don't have to, I was the one that caused this mess" replied Po, "It's okay I don't mind" said Tigress with a small smile on her lips.

In the Barracks

"I knew that Po would come back, but I still think that Tigress is acting strangely" said Viper while slithering towards their rooms,"hmm well I guess you could be right. She did get angry, well more so than usual" said Crane

"agreed" replied Mantis from Monkey's shoulder "especially when Po was mentioned" said viper.

"Hmm I'm sure you guys are thinking too much about this. Po probably accidentally broke one of her belongings, you know like doing something klutzy. He has been prone to break things on accident."

"Yes I suppose you're right, well goodnight you guys," said a tired snake, "goodnight" said Mantis and Monkey together as they entered and closed the door to their rooms.

Before Viper could go into her room, Crane said "Goodnight Viper...sweet dreams and see you tomorrow" while blushing a little. Viper turned around and giggled "that's sweet and you too Crane, see you tomorrow" she smiled and then went into her room. That smile always made crane feel like melting _'sigh that smile...yes! That went great" _Crane thought as he positioned himself for sleep.

Back at the kitchen

Po was washing dishes while Tigress was fixing things in the dining area. _'I wonder why Tigress has been helping me lately, well whatever the reason, it's nice to receive help from a friend. We should be able to finish soon if we keep working together...together...geh!' _Po started to blush as that word came up again _'why does that word keep making me feel stuttery and jittery like as if I ate a bag of coffee beans. Hmm that actually doesn't sound so ba-' _

Po's thoughts were interrupted as Tigress said "Po I finished cleaning up the dining area. Is there anything else that needs cleaning?"

"geh oh hey tiger-geh! I mean Tigress. That's good, I still have a few dishes , but that's all so you can go on ahead to the barracks while I finish up here"

"Alright then and Po?"

"Yeah" Her tone started to get serious as she said " Po I need to talk to you in private, I'll wait for you outside of the barracks" "uh but-" "you have ten minutes. Don't. Be late" she said as she pointed at him and proceeded to walk out of the kitchen "yeah uh sure... I'll be there".

_oh man! What could she want to talk about? I haven't done anything to make her mad...recently. Sigh well either way I'll face her as a true warrior, and take whatever she throws at me.'_

Outside the the kitchen

Po finished the dishes and made his way towards the barracks to face wrath of Master Tigress

_'hehe wrath' _Po thought. Suddenly Po was stopped by his master's words "Po, may I have a word with you?" "Gyaa! Uh master Shifu...hey uh what's up?" stuttered Po "Where were you today panda?" He responded in a nervous way " well you see, I was doing some um important work, yeah" "hmmm follow me Po" "but I have thing I have to-" Shifu interrupted him with a stern voice"now Po" "alright...sure".

They walked for a few seconds before Po realized that his master was leading him to the 'Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom'. When they reached the tree Shifu reached the edge and just looked out towards the brilliant, almost full-moon. From Po's view, the moon engulfed his master, making it seem like he was part of the moon. Shifu so far has said nothing and Po just stood there twiddling his thumbs for a bit, and just as he was about to ask his master a question, Shifu spoke up first without turning around.

"Po what is troubling you?"

Po just stared at his master with a confused look on his face. Then Po replied

"Huh? What do you mean master?"

"Well after you did your 'important work' down in the valley, it seems that something happened that caused quite a stir within you"

_'Gulp, he knows, sigh, I can never fool him.' _Po answered " Nothing happened down there. It was just another regular day. Heh you know, just another day of being the Dragon Warrior. HYAA! Hoo HAH! Said Po as he did a small series of punches at the air.

"Hmm very well, when you're ready to talk, I shall listen, but since you skipped out on your training without my permission, you will be trained twice as hard tomorrow, and no breakfast." Said the red panda as he turned around, then hitting the tree with his staff and making a peach fall on the panda's hand.

After wards he started walk towards the palace "Eat while you still can".

"Aww man, that's so not cool Shifu, just because I missed one thing" "ah that reminds me, didn't you have to meet someone?" said Shifu with a slight smirk on his face.

The the realization hit Po with great force.

"AAAaaagggh! Oh no! Oh no no no." Said the Panda as he raced off towards the barracks.

_'Oh man I'm late, First Master Shifu is going to train me until I die of exhaustion, or Master Tigress will kill me first or at least seriously injure me for being late. Oh cruel fate...Kung Fu you're INCREDIBLY awesome! But there are times like these when you almost make me wish I didn't know you."_

Back at the Barracks

By the entrance of the barrack, there was a female tiger leaning against a wall, waiting patiently.

"Tck...sigh he's late" said Tigress as her patience was running thin. Well now waiting with less patience.

**Chapter 2- End**

**Thanks for reading, please send me reviews on anything. Could be about about errors, or things you did or didn't like, or suggestions. Sorry if it seemed too long. I also added a small Viper and Crane scene in case any of you would have liked that pair up. I'll upload the next one very soon, thank you for your time, and please send reviews so I can get better. Thank you!**


	3. Chapter 3 Conflicts and Truths

**Yin and Yang**

**Hey there, Aldebran again, here's the next chapter. I would have sent this in sooner, but some things occurred, but glad I got it done in time. Thank you all for your reviews, they're helping out so much so keep them coming. Now onto what you all have been waiting for**

**Chapter 3- Conflicts and Truths**

At the barracks of the Jade Palace

Po was running as fast as he could towards the entrance of the barracks. As he was closing towards his destination, he saw Tigress leaning on the wall by the entrance.

When Po reached the entrance, Tigress fully stood up and said "you're **late" **with a menacing tone.

"Oh, um sorry about that, you see Shi-" Po was quickly cut of as Tigress said, "I didn't ask for excuses, I clearly told you not to be late"

Po started to slump down as heard that, and then talked in a lower voice "I'm sorry Tigress, I didn't mean to be late...so um what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Tigress sighed a bit as she saw how Po reacted and let some of her anger seethe away, but still looked Po straight in the eyes as she asked him "why didn't you tell us where you went off to?"

Po looked at her with confused look as he said "huh, what are you talking about?"

Tigress took a step forward towards Po and repeated "**why** didn't you warn anyone that you'd be leaving? People were worried." _'one of them being me' _she thought.

"But I go down to the valley a lot, I didn't think there would be much of a point to tell anyone I'd be gone for a while and I do it often" Po said in a confused manner, "and besides, nothing bad happened, so I don't see the problem."

"That's not the point Po, you were of by yourself and what if you were attacked, you wouldn't have had any assistance since no one knew you left" Tigress said as she took another step towards Po.

"I can handle myself, bandits don't stand a chance against the Dragon Warrior" said Po with a grin

"Yes you can, but what if a real enemy showed up? Then what would you do?" this time tigress got closer enough to point and press a finger on Po's chest.

Even though Tigress wasn't taller than Po, she still made him feel small compared to her, especially as she looked at him with those luminescent orange and red eyes, that on any other night looked awesome, perhaps even beautiful to Po, but at this moment they seemed to frighten him a bit.

"Well um I'd do what I always do." Po then started to act like his usual self as he said "and show them the Awesome Power of KUNG FU!" then he got into his usual fighting stance. After he said that, Po could have sworn that he saw a smile forming on Tigress' face. Then he asked "But wait, I've done this before, so why bring it up now?"

All traces of a smile left her face as she heard this, and returned to being Tigress "because...well it doesn't matter now, just make sure you tell us if you're going somewhere by yourself. At least tell me, now goodnight Po." with she turned around and opened the doors to the barracks and before she left, she said "and Po?" as she looked behind her with a serious look "uh yeah" said the worried panda.

"Since you didn't warn us about your absence and because you were late, tomorrow you will spar with me until I feel that you have learned your lesson" and with that she left Po and walked towards her room.

Po sat down on the steps as he began to think _'oh man, first Shifu wants to punish me, now Tigress is punishing me...sigh is it a crime to go help out with a festival, and eat noodles. Hmm maybe I would have been in less trouble if that poster didn't distract me'. _Po tilted his head to the side a bit and thought _'why did that poster distract me so much? Just because I pictured me and Tigress in place of the tiger and dragon' _Po's cheeks started to change color to a slight red.

_'Why do I keep doing that when it involves Tigress?' _Po shrugged and then got up to say "well no point in worrying too much over it now, better go hit the hay, I'll need all the energy I can to face tomorrow"

_'I'm going to need it' _Po thought as he entered his room and laid on his cot.

The next day

The gong sounded and the Five quickly rushed out of their rooms to greet their master.

"Good morning Master" said the Five in unison. The red panda sighed as he noticed that one voice was missing from that greeting.

"Po get up" Shifu said as he walked over to Po's door and opened it. Shifu stopped suddenly as he realized that there was no one in there, then he asked the Five "does anyone know where the panda is?"

The Five all looked confused. Mantis and Monkey just nodded no, while Crane said "we haven't seen him master" and Viper said,"yes, we haven't seen him yesterday after he made dinner for us." Shifu's question made Tigress think _'that panda better have not disobeyed me after I told him a few hours ago' _as Tigress was about to turn her heel and run out of the barracks at full speed, when they all heard the noise of something hitting pots and pans.

_'The kitchen' _they all thought in unison. Tigress was the first to set off towards the kitchen and then everybody else followed.

When they all neared the kitchen, they started to smell the scent of honey and fruits. At the kitchen they saw that Po was setting down plates filled with pancakes, topped of with honey, and to the sides were slices of oranges and served with jasmine tea.

When Po placed down the last plate, he looked over to the doors and said "oh hey guys, I'm glad you guys showed up, I just finished making breakfast, eat up while it's still warm" followed by his usual grin. "Oh and don't worry master Shifu I didn't eat anything like you said, I just woke up early and decided to use my time wisely."

"Hmm very good Po, now follow me to the training hall, and the rest of you shall meet up with us in the training hall when you are finished here" "yes master" said the five in unison.

"Now Po let's go" "Sure master...uh let's head out" said Po as he had a longing look on his face directed at the breakfast set out on the table. "Tell me what you guys think of the food okay."

As Shifu and Po left, the five took their place on the table and started to eat their meal made by Po.

"Wow, this is really good and it's pretty rare to see Po up early" said Viper as she picked up an orange slice. "True, maybe he has something on his mind, or something happened" said Monkey while chewing on some pancake. "Ugh Monkey close your mouth while eating, but you could be right" "heh maybe he's just hungry, I mean he just skipped out on breakfast, he'll probably be the same Po if he just as something in stomach." said Mantis while trying to eat the orange slice, that's about one third the size of his body.

Tigress was drinking from her tea as she was thinking _'maybe he's thinking about what happened last night. Maybe I was too strict with him, but it's too late now to change things. I'll try to be a bit nicer with him. This doesn't mean he's still not being punished."_

"Tigress? Tigress are you okay?" asked Viper with concern "huh, oh...sorry Viper, I was caught up in my thoughts. What was your question?" "Well I asked what you thought of this meal" "oh well this meal is very adequate" Tigress then stood up and took her dishes to clean them. "Wow a compliment from Master Tigress" said Monkey in astonishment " well this is news that will most likely make Po very happy!" said Viper. This somewhat caught Tigress by surprise "what? Why would that make him happy?"

"Well remember when you accepted him as the Dragon Warrior and addressed him as 'master'? He was very happy by the look on his face. So imagine how happy he'll be when he hears that you complimented him. Heheh he may even jump for joy" giggled Viper

_'Would a compliment from me make him that happy?' _Thought Tigress with skepticism

In the Training Hall

"Po you need to train on your inner peace" "Huh? But I already got the inner peace thing down. Don't you remember when I used it to destroy Shen's ships in Gong Men city?" "Yes I do remember and it was quite impressive, but now I am not so sure you can do it again."

Po moved a step back and got into the stance, "Oh yeah watch this" Po then began to do the movements. Po's movement were fluid and flawless as he moved his body, but before he finished it seems that he hesitated a bit.

"Po this is a technique that if one part fails, then the whole technique follows.""Wait, let me try that again" Po got back into stance and tried it again. Only this time he made the same mistake, but halfway through it.

"I don't get it, I was able to do it before, why can't I do it now. I mean I learned the way to do it."

"Yes Po, you have learned how to do the movements, and how to fully master it, but just knowing how to do it is not enough. You also need inner peace within yourself. Therefore you need full balance of yourself in order to accomplish it. I suggest you find what is disturbing your inner peace and face it."

"Yes master" said Po with resign in his voice

"For now, train with the five and hone your other Kung Fu skills"

As if on cue, the Five entered the hall. "Ah good, today you all shall pair up and spar. You all shall decide who to spar with."

Monkey paired off with Mantis, Viper with Crane, and as if predicted, Tigress and Po.

When they reached a proper place to spar, Po looked at Tigress with a bit of fear as they got into their battle stances and asked "Can you predict the future or something? 'Cuz that was kinda weirdly coincidental?"

"No, just got lucky. Now prepare yourself." "Alright cool, phew bring it!"

Tigress then charged at Po with great ferocity, unleashing a series of powerful and equally fast strikes. Po started to block them using his hands and arms, but the more he blocked, the more his hands were taking a beating. He knew he'd have to take offensive otherwise he'd lose his arms. Po then reacted with with a low attack to her abdomen, but Tigress quickly jumped and reacted with a spinning back kick to Po's face causing him to turn his back to her. While he did that, Tigress landed and quickly did a two-palmed tiger fist to his back sending him flying at full speed. Po then flew off in the direction of the wall.

Event though a bit dazed, Po reacted quickly, by reaching out with left arm and grabbed on to the cylindrical support beam, and used it to swing himself back with the momentum caused by her attack.

Tigress didn't expect this as Po kicked her with a very powerful move. Still, Tigress blocked it with both her arms, but the momentum was too strong. The attacked launched her towards a rack full of staffs causing it to break.

"Wow that was sooo AWEEESSSOMMMME! You were all like hiyaa! And then I was like Hoo HAA! Then-" Po's rant of admiration came to a stop as he heard a thunderous tiger growl. He looked towards Tigress and saw something that is possibly even scarier than Tai Lung and Shen put together, Tigress fully mad. She had her face in a way that could kill instantly while a few of her fangs were bared.

_'Oh man, I'm going to die. She would look so cool right now if it wasn't me she was looking at me with that' _Po gulped and then got into his stance, while trembling, and prepared himself for certain doom.

In the hall Of Heroes

Shifu was meditating with his staff on his lap while surrounded by hundreds of lit candles. Shifu's ears twitched a bit as he heard wings flapping. Immediately Shifu stood up and waited for the Palace's messenger. A duck fell in front of Shifu with a 'quack'. "Hello Zeng, do you have any news?" said Shifu in a calm tone.

"Kind of master, I have this letter that is addressed to Po. Here you go." with that done, the left.

_'I'll give this to Po after his training session' _Shifu then resumed his meditation.

In the training Hall

Po was flying through the air and the next thing he knew is he saw tigress in the air with him and landing a downward kick to his abdomen, causing Po to fly straight down to the ground.

_' thank the heavens that I have this stomach' _Po thought as lying on the ground. Po then saw that Tigress was standing over him, Po thought she'd attack, but saw that she had a slight smile on her face as she helped Po get up.

This was kinda surprising to Po, but that thought quickly dies as she got serous again and asked "Why didn't you fight with all your strength?" "Huh? What do you mean? I was trying?" Po said in defense, "What if I was an enemy? Would you have taken it easy one me then?" "But you're not".

Po then started to explain after the few moments of silence "I can spar with you guys, but I would never want to seriously to hurt my friends. I can't do that to those I care about". This really surprised Tigress.

Po had this way of speaking what's on his mind and say anything without shame or embarrassment. It's that same kind of talk that made Tigress blush. No one has actually told Tigress that they cared about her. She knew that people cared about her, but this was first time anyone has ever told it to her out loud. She quickly turned around so as not to let Po see. This wasn't something Tigress was used to.

Po looked at her with confusion, and Tigress said "but if you don't fully use all of your strength then how will you improve?" "You don't have to put 100% into everything you do to fully learn or improve on it." "Sigh you're right, but you still could have used techniques like your inner peace against me"

Po slightly lowered his mood as he said "I can't use it" "what do you mean? We saw you do it a few days ago against Shen".

"Yeah and it was pretty hardcore wasn't it" as he chuckled and elbowed Tigress slightly "Yeah it was Po". Po then changed back his mood "Yeah, but when I tried to do it again I sucked. Shifu says that my inner peace is not balanced and that if I don't fix it, I won't be able to use it anymore. Siiiggghh".

"Well what has you troubled Po?" "I wish I knew" Po said, "well has there been anything different that you did, or some thoughts that has you conflicted?"

Po contemplated for a bit "hmm well I can't think of anything, maybe-" the image of The Yin and Yang poster passed through his mind again. Quickly Po began to blush and that's when he noticed how close Tigress was and he noticed every detail on her face, the mix orange, black, and white fur and those orange eyes, Po quickly caught himself before he stared too long and stuttered "uhhh nope...uh nothing heheh" "Hmm well I'm sure you'll figure it out with time. Now come on we're done for today."

Po followed as they went to go meet the rest. "Ouch" Po exclaimed as he was rubbing his shoulder "sorry about that Po" "Naw it's okay, I just hope I feel well enough for the festival in two days". "I'm sure you'll be heal before then, you're not that hurt" Tigress said "yeah you're right, But boy, the festival is going to be loads of fun! Are you going the festival?" asked Po while smiling at her.

She looked at him like he just asked a question with an obvious answer "no" while Po looked at her as if heart broken "aww why not? It's going to be so much fun". "Well I don't see much point in going to one, when I could be training instead".

"Yeah, but you should at least have a bit of fun just for one night. We should relax, after all we saved China a few days ago" "but-" Tigress was interrupted by as he put paws together in a pleading motion and opened his eyes wide and said "com on pleeeeasse?" Tigress saw how wide he had his Jade green eyes. She did tell herself to be nicer to him and he did just...invite her to the festival.

_'Hmm well it has been a while, and I guess it won't be so bad if Po is there. He always brightens up days, and he won't until I go' _with a small sigh and smile she said "alright Po I'll go, but if it's pointless I'll leave okay?"

At this point, Po's smile became wide as all of China "Yeah sure! And YES!" he pumped his fist which caused him a bit of pain in his shoulder. Tigress chuckled a bit at this sight.

They both reached the Five and saw they stopped their training too and were standing next to Master Shifu. "Ah Po and Tigress, how was your training?" "Awesome as always!" said Po and Shifu just gave his usual glance at Po "Well that's good to hear, oh and Dragon Warrior, there is this letter that was addressed to you". Shifu then handed the letter over to Po.

"Cool who's it from?" said Po excitedly "Well I'm sure the letter says who it's from" said Mantis with a laugh, which was followed by hiss from Viper.

Po looked at the envelope and read who it was from and his eyes went wide along with his smile.

"Hey it's from Song!"

"What?" said a shocked Tigress.

**Chapter 3- End**

**Phew done. Lots of drama, some action, and humor to come. What does the letter say and what will happen at the Festival. All will be answered soon. Sorry if this one seems a bit too long, I just had too say a lot in this one chapter and I wanted to show thanks to everyone reading and reviewing this. Thank you all for reading and the reviews. As always, they helped tremendously so please send more reviews my way or suggestions. Thanks again!**


	4. Chapter 4  Doubts

Yin and Yang

**Hey there, here's the next chapter. I'd like to say thank you to all who have helped me with their reviews, especially Soul of a Lion! Sorry for taking a while to update, had to do other work besides this. Thank you for reading and reviewing! So on to the story (**I do not own Kung Fu Panda, all rights and ownership belong to Dream Works.)

**Chapter 4- Doubts**

"Are you saying that that letter is from that female leopard that came to Jade Palace and stole the Dragon Chailice!" Hissed Tigress

"Yeah that's her!" Said Po in a happy tone, oblivious to Tigress' implication. "So I"ll see you guys later, I'm going to go read this letter, See ya at dinner!" Po raced out of the training hall in search of a nice place to read his letter.

"Ugh why is he still friends with that thief?" said Tigress with scowl as she saw Po leave the training hall.

"Come on Tigress, she isn't that bad. Song did repent for what she did and if it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have made it back in one piece with the Dragon Chalice!" said Viper trying to make Tigress think otherwise.

Her scowl didn't leave her face, "A leopard doesn't change its spot; Once a thief always a thief"

"Ahem" interrupted the conversation "You are all dismissed for the day. I shall be meditating if anyone needs me, so if you all shall excuse me. Dinner will be in an hour." Shifu then walked off with his staff in hand.

"Well we should probably start getting ready for dinner then, come one you guys" said Monkey with wave leading four of them out of the training hall. "Tigress, aren't you coming?" said Viper noticing that Tigress was still standing in the same position.

"No, I think I will follow Master Shifu's lead and go meditate until dinner" Tigress then moved and made her way towards the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom.

Upon arriving at the Sacred Peach Tree, Tigress assumed the lotus position, with her paws resting on her lap, and began meditating. From afar you could see that Tigress had a relaxed and calm look upon her. She was breathing in and out slowly, but if you were close and fast enough, you could see the slightest hint of a twitch on her face that occurred every so often.

_'Hmph, I thought we were rid of those cursed Ladies of the Shade. I still don't trust her even if the others do. If I don't even trust the mailman, then how could I possibly, even consider trusting any of one of them.'_

At the barracks in Po's room

Po entered his room and quickly shut the door behind him. He proceeded to sit on his cot and open his letter. Po was impatient and excited to read its content, but still opened it with caution, in order to not damage the letter itself. When it was open, Po read it with high hopes. The letter said:

_Dear Po,_

_ I am so sorry I haven't written anything to you at all, but I have good news that will hopefully make up for it. Ever since you last saw me flying off in the wind to meet the others, we have been doing good and honest work. We started small, but eventually we made a name for ourselves and our business has been booming ever since._

_ The good news doesn't stop there. Since word has spread of us, we have been recently hired to perform a show for the lord of a town near the Valley of Peace. Since the town is nearby, I thought that I would drop by to visit you in valley so we can make up for the time since I left._

_ I'll be in the valley by morning proceeding the day that you received this letter. Make sure you're there to greet me okay and I won't accept you being late. Ever since we last saw each other, I have thought about you a lot and all the good moments we shared together. Let's have fun like the last time. I can't wait to see you again Po._

_ Love,_

_ Song_

Po couldn't help it as a huge grin spread across his face. Po then started to jump for joy knowing that his first female, best friend was coming tomorrow to see him. "YAHOOO!" was all Po was capable of saying from the overwhelming joy he was feeling after reading the letter.

Once Po had calmed down a bit, he sat down on his cot again began thinking about all the things they could do when she got to the valley.

_'Maybe we can go try out different meals together, go see the sights, give her a proper tour of the Jade Palace, I can tell her about my story in Gong Men city and how the Dragon warrior defeated the mighty Shen, using his amazingly, awesome Kung Fu Skills! Haha this is going to be so cooool!' _Po thought as he remembered that he still had dinner to make "oh man, it's getting late. I better get dinner ready, hahaha time sure flies when you're happy" said Po as he quickly made his way towards the kitchen.

At the Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom

_'Perhaps I should apologize to Po. Just because I don't trust the Ladies of the Shade, doesn't mean I should vent out my conflicts out on Po, even if he didn't notice.' _Tigress then opened her and took in a long breath and smelled the scent of the Sacred Peach Tree. It was a very pleasant scent, a scent that could clear anyone's mind of troubles. I slight smile came to her face.

_'I also probably over-reacted, It was just a letter after all, It isn't as if they're coming back to valley of Peace' , _Tigress stood up and turned towards the dining area to meet the others _'maybe a meal made from Po will clear my head of all this nonsense'_

In the Kitchen of the Jade Palace

Po was making dinner at a fast pace. His movements with a knife were graceful, but looked rather silly considering it was Po. Either way his movements were swift and smooth. If he wasn't sorounded by pots and cooking dinner, you would have probably thought he was performing a series of Kung Fu moves and stances in an elegant way, without performing the slightest mistake.

Mantis, Crane, Viper, and Monkey walked in to the kitchen and took their places at the table. They noticed his movements as he cooked, but what really caught their attention was the grin he was sproting on his face. They saw one of the biggest grins they have ever seen, perhaps even bigger than the time he heard the news of the all-you-can-eat noodle bar opening. Too bad it closed soon after they opened, due to obvious reasons.

"What has you in such high spirits, Po?" asked viper with a grin,

"Huh? What makes you think I'm happy?" said Po with a backward glance

"Well besides that big goofy grin on your face, nothing" laughed Monkey

"Guess you noticed huh?" asked Po with slight embarassment.

"Kind of hard to miss Po" replied Crane.

"Yeah, so tell us big guy. Does it have to do with a girl?" laughed Mantis

"Wow, how did you guess?" Said Po as he was amazed with Mantis' skills with perception.

"Wah, really? Wow I was just joking. So who's the lucky lady?" Mantis asked with wide eyes

"Huh?.. Well do you guys remember that letter that I got from Song this afternoon?" Po was a bit confused as to what Mantis meant by 'lucky lady' but still answered.

"Yes" said the four waiting for Po to answer.

"Well the letter said tha-...oh hey Tigress!" Po stopped his explanation as he that Tigress just walked in to the kitchen.

Tigress took her place at the table and saw that something had happened " What is going on?"

Viper replied, "well before you walked in, Po was about to tell us about what the letter said. The one that he received this morning." Viper then turned her gaze towards Po.

_'Oh joy' _thought Tigress sarcastically

"Well in the letter, Song said that after that whole 'chalice business', which was no one's fault, she explained how she and the ladies were doing. They have been doing good, have made a good name for themselves, and how they changed their ways!"

This earned a "hmph" from Tigress

"Well in long story short, they've been asked to do a show for this lord, not too far away and since it's close by, Song decided to come visit the Valley of Peace ! Isn't that AWESOME!" asked Po as he walked around handing out bowls to the Five.

"I can see why that would make you so happy" said Mantis as he picked up a spoon to eat his soup.

"Yes Po, that is good news" Viper said with that warm smile of hers that they have all come to known.

"Wait a minute. Po are you saying that the leader of the Ladies of the Shade, is coming here to the valley?" Tigress got up from her seat as she said this.

"Yeah isn't that great?" said Po and his smile then showed his teeth.

"Po that is not-" Tigress was interrupted by the Master of all six of them. All gazes fell upon the red panda waiting by the doors.

"Ahem, I am sorry for interrupting your conversation, but I have very urgent matters that I need to attend to. These matters will require me to leave immediately, while I am gone, you shall have all of tomorrow to do with as you wish. I shall return on the day after tomoorrow. I do apologize for the short notice, and now if you all shall excuse me, I must take leave." Shifu truned around to leave, but before that he said "oh and Po? Thank you for the soup" said Shifu as he produced a steaming bowl filled with Po's soup in his hand, before he left.

"Master" Said the six unison and placed their fist in their palm and bowed.

_'How does he always do that?' _Po thought "You're welcomed master and good luck on your trip."

Po then went to sit on table and began eating his noodle soup. "So what do you guys think Shifu's trip is all about? Ooooo it's probably some awesome mission, where there is a whole city ruled by some kind of evil king and only the power of Kung Fu can liberate the city from that cruel beast! Or it could be some kind of gathering of legendary Kung Fu masters and are working together to come up with awesome new techniques that can like, destroy entire mountains in a single moment!" Po's hands began trembling with excitement as he thought more and more about this. Po then lifted his bowl up to his lips and finished off the rest of his soup. "Maybe if I hurry I can catch up to Shifu, I can convince him to take me with him!"

"Haha calm down Po, I don't think that's why Shifu left" said Monkey.

"Yeah and besides, even if Shifu did leave for those an of those reasons, I highly doubt either would only take a day to finish" said Crane with a slight chuckle.

"It's probably just some documents that need sigining, you know some political mumbo-jumbo" said mantis while satisefyingly rubbing his stomach from the meal he had just consumed.

"yeah you're probably right" Po then got up and took everyone's bowls and began to clean them.

_'Sigh, Po forgot what we were talking about, I guess I'll talk to him after this' _thought Tigress with some resign

A few moments afterwards

"Yawn, man I'm beat, in more ways than one I might add" joked Po as covered his mouth when yawned.

"Yeah, we should probably head off to bed, I want to make the most of our day off tomorrow" said Mantis as hopped along with the others

"True, days like these don't come too often" agreed Monkey

Tigress took her chance and went up to Po and asked in a hushed tone "hey Po, can you come with me outside for a minute? I need to talk to you?"

"Sure Tigress, but why are you whispering?" Po asked bluntly.

"Because I didn't want to be heard, just follow me." Luckily for Tigress, the others didn't notice their conversation as they headed for their quarters.

Tigress and Po reached outside within moments. The night was fully covered with stars and the moon as was almost at its peak to become full again. When they stopped walking, Tigress turned around

Po then asked a question in his usual manner of talking "soo Tigress, what's up?"

Tigress isn't really the kind to stall or avoid the main point at hand, so she got right down to the point. "Po about that letter you received, mentioning that the leader of the Ladies of the Shade was coming to the Valley of Peace. I don't think it's a good idea." Tigress looked Po staright in the eyes as she said this.

"Haha that's a good one Tigress, you really had me-...oh you're serious" Po knew that she was serious by the look in her eyes. "Why"

"Don't you remember that last time they were here, they decieved you in order to steal the Dragon Chalice." Tigress answered with slight frustration

"Yeah, but Song helped me out in the end, and we got the chalice back without a prooblem. Not to mention that we were a pretty kick butt team!" Po punched the air two times as he said this.

"While that may be true, she also aided in the initial plan to steal the Chalice from the Hall of Heroes" Tigress counter argued

"But she apologized and more that made up for her wrong doing and helped the Ladies of the Shade turn to side of riggthenouse" Trying to sound as convincing as he possibly could.

"Theifs can not be trusted" Tigress' patience was now wearing out. She can admire how Po can see the good side of things, especially in the darkest times. Althought there times, such as this one, that that quality can get one's nerves.

"She's not a theif, she's my friend. In fact she's my best friend" said Po in a proud and serious tone.

"What?" Tigress said in surprise by the sudden realization of what Po just said.

"Well she's not my only best friend, you and the others here are also my best friends,but Song was like my very first female best friend." Po grinned as he remembered the day he spent with song and became best friends.

Tigress seemed a bit saddened by this news. She was relieved to know that they're friends, best friends even, but the facts were still there. This news made her ears droop down a little. Luckily Po doesn't have much of an eye for detail, so he didn't notice.

"Besides, why is this such a big deal to you?" Po now changing the questions towards her.

"What are you talking about? This isn't a big deal for me" Tigress took a step forward towards Po as her patience was close to breaking.

"Well ever since I got the letter, you've been freaking out, especially after I mentioned that Song was coming." Po held his ground even though it was getting clear that Tigress was getting more infuriated by the second. _'Oh I know I'm going to regret asking this, but I can't quit now while I'm behind' _Po thought as fear was rising within him. "What do you have against her? Like you personally?"

By now Tigress started to reveal some of her pearly white fangs, that still look sharp enough to pierce through anything. Combine that with her eyes, that at this moment are gleaming in the darkness and make her eyes shine bright and make her irises look like a shade of red, makes for one seriously mad and dangerous tiger.

_'OOOOoooohhhh man! I knew I was going to regret that, she looks soo cooool right now, I just wish that she wasn't using that stare at me. My only regret is not learning everything Kung Fu has to offer' _Po started silenly praying in his mind, but soon stopped because something surprised him.

Tigress sighed while lowering her gaze, and all traces of anger left her face. "I don't have anything against her Po, I just...don't want to see you get hurt again" she looked back up at Po with a hint worry in her expression.

Po was surprised by how quickly she changed her expression to something he hasn't seen since Gong Men city and even then it was hard to believe that he actually saw that with his own two eyes. Po said in a baffled manner "wait uhhh...how would Song hurt me?"

Tigress' worry only increased "Po... just promise me that you'll stay safe and...that you'll warn me before you go and meet her okay?"

Po was still a bit confused but agreed either way "uh sure thing Tigress."

Tigress then turned around to leave towards her quarters, but before that "thank you Po and goodnight."

Po still looked a bit dumbfounded, but then smiled as he said "anytime and goodnight Tigress."

Tigress entered through the doors of the barracks and disappeared as she turned a corner. Po was still confused and a bit saddened that he was probably the cause of Tigress' worry. He then decided that going to the Sacred Peach Tree would be a great place to go to.

The Sacred Peach Tree of Heavenly Wisdom

Po ate about 7 peaches before he stopped to think about recent events _'Sigh, I wonder why Tigress has been acting so...not like Tigress, these last few days. I know she has been a bit more open and less angry against my awesomeness! Heck she sometimes joins in, sometimes. But now she's a bit different than before. I wish knew what was wrong so we can go back to being best of buds' _the thought just made Po smile with as a warm feeling was spreading through his body

By now Po was sitting down and admiring the view that the Sacred Peach always had to offer. The Moon looked beautiful, it would look even better when the moon is full in a couple of days. The view below of the Valley of Peace was even more breathtaking. This beautiful sight made all worries leave Po's mind.

_'Maybe I'm thinking too hard about this. Maybe this is nothing and it will all blow over soon' _"ow, huh?" said Po as a peach hit him on the head as he finished that thought. He caught it in his hand and stared at it for a few seconds "hmm maybe it's not nothing. Yeah if there is a problem, I"ll be sure to fix it!" Said Po with as he accepted this challenge. "First I should go get some rest, I want to make sure I'm fully rested so I can make the most of tomorrow with Song!"

Po ate the peach that fell on his head and then ran off towards the barracks. At the peach tree the wind picked up a few petals from the tree and blew them into a small spiral in the air. Off in the distance a familiar chuckle could be heard, that once belonged to a very old and very wise turtle.

The next morning

A mile away from the entrance of the Valley of Peace

A female leopard, holding a bag and an umbrella, came to a stop and saw far into the distance. She looked and saw a village in the distance and knew immediately knew it was the Valley of Peace. The female had a huge smile growing on her face and said "There it is, the Valley of Peace! It's been so long since I was last here. I can't wait to see Po again! Hopefully he will as happy to see me as I a will be to see him." The leopard giggled and then continued her trek towards the Valley.

**Chapter 4 - End**

**Sorry again that I took a while to update. Please tell what you all think about it, so send me reviews on what you all thought of this. Thanks for the reviews and for reading it! Hopefully update my next chapter faster than I did with this one. Preview: In the next chapter a female from past comes back to village (obviously we all know who now haha) and will Po be able to have Fun with his past friend or will things turn to bad? Stay tuned for the next update; Chapter 5 – Reunion.**

**P.S. Thank you Batpuddingman for your reviews, they really helped me a lot and kept me going as I wrote this story! Thanks again for everything!**


	5. Chapter 5 Reunion

**Yin and Yang**

**Hey there, Aldebran here, thank you all for reading my story so far, and thank all of you that wrote those reviews for me! They helped immensely, hopefully I'll get more reviews so I can keep making this even better. I'll stop babbling now, let's move on to the story (**I do not own Kung Fu Panda, Dream Works does**).**

**Chapter 5 – Reunion**

Morning at the Valley of Peace

The sun had begun to spread over the horizon of the Valley of the Peace, as sunlight replaced the darkness of the night. The valley awoke with life as many began to rise for a new day. Villagers began to start their daily tasks, such as going off to work, opening up their shops, everything needed to start the day. At the Jade Palace, its inhabitants began their day as well.

The Jade Palace Barracks

The morning bell ranged and the students of the jade Palace quickly awoke and stood at attention in the barracks hall. Even Po was up at the same time as the Furious Five, which surprised the Five. Usually Po woke up groggy, with wishes of longer nights and deeper sleep, but today that was not the case. Today Po was fully prepared for the day to come ahead, in face, Po was had his signature smile on as he stood outside his. If Shifu was here, he would be so proud of the Dragon Warrior's change of personality.

As they stood there in the hall, Mantis was the first to speak "I guess Shifu really did leave for the day. I guess we should decide what to do for the day."

Mantis jumped on Monkey's shoulder as he said "so what are you guys going to do?" he asked as he looked towards the others for an answer.

Tigress began to walk out of the hall and said without turning back"I'll be in the training hall, brushing up on my skills."

As soon as Tigress turned the corner and was out of eye sight, Mantis gained the courage to say "She's going to train on her day off? Her definition of fun is really outdated" Mantis poked Monkey with his elbow as he, Monkey, and Po began to chuckle at Mantis' joke.

"It won't be so funny when I decide to use you three as sparring dummies!" yelled Tigress from the other hallway.

The three quickly silenced themselves and gulped in unison. This earned a small laugh from Viper while she covered her mouth with the end of her tail.

As soon as Po recovered from his small scare, Po said to the Five "well now that got past uh that, let's go to kitchen and I'll make you guys breakfast. Come on!" Po smiled as he waved his arm to the five, gesturing for the others to follow him.

"Thanks Po, that would be nice" said Viper as she slithered next to him.

When they reached the kitchen, Monkey and the others took their places at the table while Po started the fire in the stove and quickly started on the meal. The others started small talk, mostly about their plans for today. Po was nearing completion on the meal, he noticed through the window and saw that by the sun's position, he was going to be late for his meeting with Song if he didn't hurry up. Po then quickened his pace on finishing the meal.

While Monkey, Mantis, and Crane continued their conversation, Viper noticed that Po was moving more quickly and looked rather distressed about something. "Po is something wrong? You seem worried about something" Viper looked at Po with concern in her eyes.

Po didn't look back towards viper, but still responded. "Well uh kind of. I'm supposed to meet Song today in the valley and I don't want to be late." Po then started moving the pan in circles with one hand while adding olive oil with the other.

"Well why don't you just go?" replied Viper.

"Well that's not the only problem. I actually promised Tigress that I'd tell her if I left the Jade Palace and then I still have my chores." said Po with a hint of sadness "and you know how many chores usually hav-"

Po was cut off by Viper "you should go Po, you don't want to be late. We'll handle your chores, now go meet your friend." Said Viper with a warm smile.

Po noticeably perked up after hearing this. "Really! You'd do that for me?" happiness quickly filling voice as he placed plates, with stir-fried tofu on them, on the table.

"Yeah, now go" Viper motioned her head towards the doors, hinting for him to go.

Po's smile grew wide as he poured everyone their tea. He immediately set down the teapot and went over to his plate. He lifted the plate to his mouth a quickly poured its contents into his mouth. His mouth was full, but he still said "thankfh you so muchh, I owwe youuu!" He then ran out through the door as fast he could in search of Tigress.

Viper laughed a bit at his antics, and yelled out after him "have fun Po!."

In the Training Hall

Tigress was practicing with the wooden dummies in training hall. She avoided the arms and answered with attacks of her own. She was swiftly maneuvering her way from the beginning to the center of the wooden dummies. Tigress didn't miss a single step and was doing it perfectly, but her thoughts were else where.

_'Do I have a personal vendetta towards the snow leopard? I don't think I do, after all I have every reason to not trust her. She stole the chalice, she deceived Po,' _her strikes were becoming fiercer and stronger as her thoughts went on. _'And she has the nerve to come back, as if nothing happened. I can understand that Po still sees her as a friend since she supposedly helped to recover the chalice in the end. I guess I should trust Po's judgment for now, but if she even so much as thinks of hurting Po any way, I'll-' _Tigress' actions reflected her thoughts as she struck one of the dummies with enough force to break it from its base, launching it and breaking ten dummies that were set up behind it.

Tigress was baring her fangs as she stared down at the fallen training equipment in front her. She then let out a deep breath and calmed herself _'I may give her the benefit of the doubt now, but I'd still rather not see her anywhere near the valley or Po for that matter. Even if I never see her, it will still be too soon.' _Tigress' eyes widened a bit as she turned her gaze towards the entrance to hall and saw a panda staring at her with nothing, but pure admiration.

Po had the same look on his face when he first witnessed Tigress do a perfect split, breaking two plates in the process, the first time he came to the palace. Tigress was a bit embarrassed to have just Po staring at her while she trained, "how long have you been there Po?" she asked a bit sternly, but still kept herself composed.

"That was AWESOME!" his eyes went wide and lifted his arms near his mouth in a failed attempt to hide his excitement. "You are so cool Tigress! I came in as soon started with the wooden training dummies. When I came in I was going to say something at first, but then I saw you training, and well you know.." Po began to twiddle his fingers and lower his gaze to floor as he talked "...and um well you were all cool and junk, so I couldn't help it. Sorry."

Tigress smiled a bit and chuckled a bit at his response. Even though he lived at the Jade palace, he still acts like the same fan boy, that two years ago became the Dragon Warrior. This wasn't a bad quality of his, in fact in was quite amusing in a goodhearted way. Even Tigress came to accept this quality of his after he defeated Tai Lung and accepted him as the Dragon Warrior. "It's okay Po, you don't have to apologize. Now was there something you needed?" She walked closer to Po until she was standing a few feet away from him.

"Yeah I came to tell you that I'm going down to valley, I'll see you tonight, bye!" Po then started started running towards the doors. Just as Tigress was about say some response to him, he said "oh and I made your breakfast, it's in the kitchen. Eat it while it's still warm, hope you like it!" By now Po was gone and Tigress was along in the hall again.

Tigress laughed a bit at Po's antics and decided to head off to the kitchen. _'You didn't even let me say a single thing, but at least I'm glad he kept his promise to me' _she felt a warm feeling rising within, putting her in a good mood. _'I'll take Po's advice and go eat now while I can. Knowing his skills with food, it will most likely be delicious' _and with that thought she raced off to the kitchen.

The entrance to the Jade Palace

"Oh man, better speed up the pace or I'll be late!" said Po as he reached the top of the stairs. As he was running down, he was too distracted by his thoughts of being late that he wasn't paying attention to his footing and tripped. Po began to bounce his way down the stairs.

After a few dozen bounces, Po finally reached the bottom of the stairs. Po landed face down on the ground loudly. He groaned and began to push himself up "oh man..stairs are evil". As he pushed himself up he noticed that there was someone kneeling in front of him. He lifted his gaze slightly upward to see who it was.

The person in front of him said "Oh my! Po are you alright!" the voice was feminine and the person helped him get to his feet.

Po could only smile as he recognized the person, "SONG!" his voice clearly showed how happy he was to see his friend.

Song giggle loudly and quickly dropped her belongings on the ground to go and tightly embrace Po in a hug "Po! It's been too long! I'm so glad to see you again!" Songs voice was slightly muffled as she buried her face in his fur.

Po returned the embrace but with more strength than intended as he couldn't hold back his joy "I missed you too Song! It's so awesome that you cam to visit!". Po then heard some noises and he looked down and realized that noises were coming from Song. Po then realized that he was hugging her too hard and released her from his embrace. "Oh! I'm so sorry Song, I didn't mean to do that".

Song took in a long breath as soon as Po released her, but her smile never left her face. "It's okay Po, I enjoyed your 'bear hug'" she giggled after she said this.

Po laughed with her "Good one Song". After the laughter subsided, Po finally noticed Song's appearance. She was wearing a similar outfit to the one she wore before, but the color scheme was different. Instead of red, her outfit had the same color as her crystal blue eyes. The change in color is most likely due to her becoming the new leader of the Ladies of the Shade. She looked a lot healthier than the last time, her fur shined more brightly in the light, even her spots looked more defined in contrast with her gray fur. Her eyes brought the most attention because she was the only person he knew with eyes like hers, that seemed to shimmer endlessly. All Po could muster after observing her was "woooow". His eyes were wide as he said this with a smile.

Song was a bit confused from his stare and comment "um is something wrong?"

"Oh sorry, I just think that you look great! Looks like being on the good side, looks good on you" Po chuckled a bit.

Song instantly blushed and she turned her gaze away from him. She could feel that she was turning a bright red, but still smiled from Po's compliment. "Really Po?"

Po in his usual mannered way said "yeah you totally do" with a big smile.

Still flustered, she said "thank you Po. So how have you been?" Trying to change the subject before she turns even more red than she is now.

Po said "oh before that, let's go take your stuff over to my dad's noodle shop so you won't have to lug all over town. Afterward we'll find a more comfortable place so can talk"

Song saw reason in what Po said and agreed, "sure Po let's go" she then picked up her parasol and then tried to reach her bag, but was cut off as Po picked up first.

"Woah, here let me carry that for you. You must be tired from your long trip." Po gave his signature grin as he slung it over his right shoulder.

Song laughed a little while holding a paw to her mouth, "ooo such a gentleman" said song which made her laugh more.

Po laughed too at Song's remark "well being a gentleman comes with whole Dragon warrior package" Po then started walking.

Song opened her parasol and leaned it on her right shoulder and then walked after Po and walked very closely to Po's side as they made their way towards Mr. Ping's noodle shop.

The barrack at the Jade Palace

Viper, Mantis, Monkey, and Crane were talking at the dining table when they saw that Tigress walked in, but this is usually something normal that happens everyday. What really caught the four's attention was that she was smiling from the time she entered the kitchen, to when she took her place at the table and began to eat.

After a few bites Tigress spoke up, "alright guys, why are you staring at me like that?" She looked at the rest of the Five, but they couldn't really look her in the eyes.

"Well uhh it's just that you're umm...you seem really happy today Tigress" stuttered Monkey

"yes and we're curious to know as to what happened to make you happy this morning" said Viper with curiosity in her voice.

_'I must have been smiling without even realizing it, thanks for that Po' _thought Tigress sarcastically "well not much has happened. Today is a beautiful day and has put me in a good mood" said Tigress while taking another another bite from her tofu _'wow this is better than what I usually eat. I should thank Po when comes back from the valley'._

The others stared at Tigress with some disbelief, _'is this really the same Tigress?' _thought the four in unison.

"Well before you came in we were talking about what we would be doing today. What will you do Tigress?" Viper was the first to speak

"well I haven't really thought about it? Perhaps I'll just train like I always do" said Tigress. She doesn't really socialize as much the others, so she doesn't really know what to do with her free time besides training.

"Come on Tigress, you shouldn't train today. You should relax and have some fun" Monkey then finished his food and began to drink from his tea.

"Training is 'fun'" contradicted Tigress

"Yes it is, but you should relax once in while. You shouldn't over work yourself, it isn't healthy"

said Crane in his usual 'as a matter of fact' tone.

"Hmm I suppose I should then. It's not every day Shifu grants us a whole to do with as we please. What will the rest of you do with this day?" wondering what could one do with spare time, besides training.

"Well I'll be heading off to the village to south of here. My weapons are getting too old, so I'll be checking out the new ones they have in stock. And I hear that Tang the toy vendor is going to be in that village today" said Monkey with his mischievous grin.

Tigress sighed "of course those ridiculous novelties are your definition of fun. What about you Viper, are your plans as 'fun' as Monkey's?" questioned Tigress

"Well no, I plan on visiting my parents. It's been a while since the last time I visited." said Viper as she smiled with anticipation of seeing her parents again.

"That is very good, send you father, Master Viper, my regards. What about you Crane?" Said Tigress while turning her gaze towards Crane

"well I was planning on gathering some art supplies. I've been running low recently, I was tempted to buy some in Gongmen city, but as you recall, we were too busy for stops." recalling their visit to the city a few days ago.

"That seem productive at least. Now what about you Mantis? A day filled with bad jokes?" guessed Tigress

"for your information, I'm planning on spending this day just like Po" huffed Mantis.

This confused Tigress, "What will you be doing exactly"

"Well I'll be spending my day with a lady. My new girlfriend is just east of the valley" Mantis grinned while looking at one of his mandible searching for imperfections.

This immediately surprised Tigress, almost making her lose her composure, "are you saying that Po is spending her with some woman? Who is this person?" asked Tigress with a calm tone that was on the verge of breaking.

This scared Mantis a bit, making take a small step back from the Tigress they knew and feared "well he's uh going to meet that Song person in the valley." Mantis said as he slightly lowered his voice.

"Wait a minute, that's today? And you all knew about this?" Tigress' voice was gaining anger by the second

The four noticed this and the only one brave enough to speak was Viper, "well we only found out about that this morning just like you. I thought Po told you about it. He said he had to go and tell you that he'd be heading to the valley", the others just stared at Tigress expecting the worse.

"He didn't tell me everything then. He did tell that he'd be in the valley, but he didn't tell that he'd be seeing that wretched Song today" she clenched her fist and began to growl softly.

"Well would you look at the time, we have to go if we want make it in to our appointments in time rights guys?" Asked mantis to the others quickly. They nodded and then pushed their chairs out and almost ran out the doors. Mantis jumped on monkey's shoulder and and yelled out "well see you later" as they left.

Tigress and Viper were the only ones that remained in the kitchen. After the males left, Viper gently placed end of her tail on Tigress' shoulder in order to calm her down "it's okay Tigress, I'm sure he meant to tell you, he was probably too distracted by something to to tell you that he was seeing Song today"

Tigress remembered that she was the reason that Po was distracted. She smiled on the inside as she remembered the compliment Po gave her in the training hall. Tigress was now calmer, "yeah you're probably right" she then unclenched her fist.

Viper smiled then made and then slithered to the door, "I'll be leaving now. I have to be on my way if I want to be back before day's end. Make the most of your day and despite what the other guys said, spend it any way you'd like. Oh and Tigress?" Viper paused at the door.

"Yes Viper?" Tigress asked.

"You shouldn't worry so much Tigress, I'm sure Song isn't much of a challenge to you. You can beat her easily" Viper then grinned

"What do you mean?" asked a confused tiger.

Viper then giggled while putting the end of her tail near her mouth, "You'll figure it out soon, I'll see you tonight Tigress." she then resumed her leave.

This only confused Tigress even more, she crossed her arms and began to ponder over her words, _'I wonder what she meant by that. 'I'm sure Song isn't much of challenge to you', I know that I am superior when it comes to combat and Kung Fu skills against her, so that obviously isn't what she was referring to.' _Tigress sighed as she couldn't figure out the meaning behind Viper's words.

At the Dragon Warrior noodle shop

"The Dragon Warrior noodle shop?" asked Song with puzzlement as she saw the sign outside the shop.

"Yeah, my dad changed the name of his shop recently. That's part of the story I want to tell you, but first let's put you bag here so we can go somewhere and then I'll tell you all about it." said Po with a grin.

"Alright then Po. Said Song as she followed Po.

There was clanging of pots as a duck was preparing his shop for the new day. He stopped what he was doing as he heard some people coming in to his shop. "Sorry, my shop is closed, come back in half an hour and make sure to bring your friends." He then saw who he was talking to and ran up to Po "Son! It's been too long!" he hugged his son as far he could reach with his arms.

"Hey dad, it hasn't been that long. I was here a few days ago" said Po as he returned the embrace.

"Nonsense. You should visit your father more often and-" Mr. Ping stopped as he notice the snow leopard standing behind Po. "Oh who is the lovely lady standing behind you son?" as he glanced behind him.

Po moved a bit to the side and pointed his hands towards Song, "Oh dad, this is Song, she came to visit me"

Song closed her parasol and bowed towards Mr. Ping "I am Song, it's a pleasure to meet you" said Song with a respectful tone in her voice.

"Oh so well-mannered, I like that! Po is this your girlfriend?" Asked Mr. ping with excitement filling his voice and before his son could answer, "oh! I'm so proud of you son! I've been waiting for this day for a long time! Well I want you to know that I approve and she's very beautiful, good job son, I knew you had it in you!" after his rant, he gave his son a thumbs up.

Both Song and Po blushed violently, Song began to smile and giggle while Po said "DAD! It's not like that! She's just my best friend, that's all" trying to stop his father from making any more embarrassing assumptions.

Hearing this made saddened Son a bit, but tried not show it. Her ear still drooped down a little which was noticed by Mr. Ping. He may not be the smartest person in the valley, but he had good eyes. He saw how they both blushed at his comments and how Song reacted to Po's explanation, "okay, okay son, whatever you say." he grinned knowing fully well what is going on. "So how can I help you two?" turning his gaze to both of them.

"Well dad, me and Song are going to hang out today, so I was wondering if you could look after her bag while we're out?" Po then pointed to the bag slung over his shoulder.

Mr. Ping replied with a smile "of course son!" he then grabbed the bag from Po.

"Thanks dad! We'll see you later" Po then turned around, grabbed Song by the paw, and raced out of the shop.

As Mr. Ping walked back to the shop with Song's bag, he thought_ 'they grow up so fast these days'_

as Po and Song were running, Song glanced down at her paw in Po's and blushed again and a tender smile grew on her face. She then gripped Po's paw firmly as she quickened her pace until she was in front of Po and lead him instead. "Come on Po, I know exactly where to go" she said with the smile still on her face.

"Alright! Lets go!" Po responded following Song.

At the Jade Palace

Tigress went to go sit on top the Jade Palace roof tops after she cleaned up in the kitchen. She had a perfect view of the whole valley, and watched as the neighbors went about their business. _'I wonder what I could do today, maybe I'll go down to the village and got the shops or do some patrolling' _she then stood up _'maybe I should start a new hobby or something along those lin-' _her thoughts were interrupted as she saw something that caught her attention, down in the valley. She saw a panda being pulled by a snow leopard. Right then her she clenched her fists, _'perhaps I should patrol the village'._

Tigress jumped down from the rooftop with amazing grace and speed as she made her decent into the Valley of Peace.

**Chapter 5 - End**

**Phew done! Sorry if I went a bit overboard with this one. I had to say a lot with this one too. Hoped you liked it, and please send me more reviews on what you thought of it and please no mean messages unless it's filled with good criticism. Things are now heating up in the Valley of Peace, what will happen? You'll find out in the next chapter, Chapter 6 – unknown feelings. See you next time! **

**P.S. Thanks again for the helpful reviews, and thank you all for reading my story, it all means a lot to me!**


	6. Chapter 6 Unknown Feelings

**Yin and Yang**

**Here's is the next update of Yin and Yang. I'm not sure how well it will be because again I need to put a lot of info in one chapter. Thank you all for the reviews and everyone else for taking the time to read this story! Let's move on to the story now (**I do not own Kung Fu Panda, Dream Works does).

**Chapter 6 – Unknown Feelings**

Near the outskirts of the Valley of Peace

Song was still holding on to Po's paw as they were reaching their destination. They have been running for a full 6 minutes, but slowed down as soon as Song heard Po panting from running. This only made Song laugh a bit as Po took in long breaths.

"Song...how much longer 'till we get to wherever it is you're dragging me to?" Po stopped and placed his paws on his knees to catch his breath.

Song turned around to look at the exhausted panda behind her, "don't worry Po, it's not much further. Also, I'm sure you'll recognize where we're heading to in a bit." Song then walked over to Po and grabbed his paw and lifted him up. Song smiled at Po as soon as he was standing, then she started pulling him towards their destination.

Po let out one last long breath and resigned himself to Song's judgment. "Alright Son, you lead the way, which...is kinda backwards since you know, I live here." chuckled Po as he was walked behind Song.

In the Valley of Peace

Tigress was soaring through the air at great speed as she descended towards the valley. She was nearing a rooftop at great speed, but never lost focus as the wind was blowing through her face. When she finally reached the roof top, she slid downward on the tiles. Before she reached the end, she pushed herself forward with both her legs and arms, using her momentum from the drop, to land on all fours on the rooftop, three houses down. When she lifted her head she gazed both left and right in order to find Po or that snow leopard. The drop may have shortened the time to get down to the valley, but it still cost her time. It didn't matter which was she looked, she still couldn't find them.

_'Where did that panda go off to now. I saw them a few moments ago, they must have been in quite a hurry. Where would she have taken Po, and why was she dragging him after her?' _she climbed off to the roof top and began to trek through he streets. _'They couldn't have just disappeared. Perhaps Mr. Ping knows where they headed off to'_. Tigress then turned in the direction of the noodle shop, in hopes of finding useful information.

In a clearing outside of the Valley of Peace

Po and Song finally reached a clearing surrounded by bamboo trees. Po noticed that in the middle of the clearing sat a huge boulder and an apple tree right next.

Po immediately knew where they were, "oh! I know where we are! We're at that clearing where we were the last time you were here! But why are we here?" Po questioned as he looked at Song.

"Yes Po this is the same place. And we're here because you said you needed to find a place to talk and I've been dying to know how you have been since the last time I was here. So come on" Song smiled as she sauntered towards the rock and took her place on the boulder. She then patted the space next to her to motion for Po to join her.

Po smiled and quickly took his place next to Song and let out a small sigh. He closed his eyes as he took in the scent of the bamboo tree and the apples that were fully ripe on the tree. When he opened he then smiled widely as he asked "So song tell me how have you been? Have you had cool adventures? How are the Ladies of the Shade? Do you still do all those fancy moves with your umbrella? Ohhh! Did you hear about any of my adventures!" Po began to throw these questions at full speed. When he finished asking all his questions, he looked at Song with a big smile with both of his paws near his face in anticipation.

Song burst out laughing while holding a paw near her mouth. She really missed Po's personality, she could always make her laugh. Song wiped her eye when she calmed down and then looked at Po "well I'll try to answer all of your questions. First I've been very good, things have going great for me and the ladies. Thank you for asking Po, but things didn't go so well at the beginning." Song's ears lowered a bit as she started to remember the hardships.

Po was concerned by the sudden change in Son's mood, "what? Why? What happened after you left?" he put all of his attention to her now.

Song let out a deep sigh as she continued her story "well things didn't always go as planned. When I told the rest of the ladies that I'd be taking over as leader and make them change their ways of thievery, they weren't exactly happy as one would think. The did let me take the role of leader, but that's when things started go awry. Word spread that we used to be thieves and that didn't help us get work. People didn't trust us, so no one hired us. We were slowly going through our rations and what we had left of our money. As were reaching our end, the ladies started to question my authority." With that, Song's voice grew sadder and her ears began to lower even further. She continued after a slight pause "some even challenged me for the position of leader. I never lost, but the challenges kept coming. By this time we went through almost all our money and even resorted to staying in caves or anywhere that provided shelter without pay. Some began to get sick and others' spirits were slowly being broken." Song let out a deep sigh "those were such hard times." After saying this, a small tear left her crystal blue eyes. She wiped it away and then heard some sobbing noises coming from her left. She turned her head and saw that Po was fully crying his eyes out. Immediately she laid a paw on his shoulder and asked "Po, is something wrong!"

Po wiped away his tears as best as he could, then sniffed about three times before he answered "its just that...just that...why do bad things have to happen to such good people?" Po finally began to stop crying and looked over at Song and noticed that she had a smile on her face, which in turn made him smile.

"That's just like you, you're so caring. But the bad things didn't stop there." This made song turn her gaze straight ahead and slightly lower her head, "since things began to get worse, some of the ladies began to leave to start their own paths. Then I started to question myself and asking whether or not I was really cut out to be a leader" said Song and then looked over to Po to make sure he hasn't started crying again, but noticed that the big lovable panda wasn't on the boulder with her anymore. She stood up with concern in her eyes. "Po!" Where are you?" she began to grow frantic with worry as she looked for Po. _'Oh no! What is something happened to him_' just as shethat thought, she heard a loud 'thud' behind her. She turned around to see Po lying face up on the ground with leaves fluttering in the air. She dropped her parasol, then quickly ran over to him, and got down to her knees to inspect him for injuries. "Po, what were you doing in the tree, you could have gotten hurt." She then helped Po sit up and then she furrowed her brow a bit as she looked at him, "Po, you should be more careful, what if you b-" Po interrupted her. He held out an apple in front of her. The look on her face was quickly replaced with confusion as she asked "what's this Po?"

Po stood up as he explained, "well it's an apple. It's for you. I thought since you were all sad and whatnot, I thought I'd get you something sweet to cure you of that frown" then he placed the apple in Song's gloved paws, "it always works for me. I just think that people look better when they smile" Po then sported one of his biggest smiles he could "see?" Po said through his while pointing to his face.

Song looked at Po then at the apple placed between her hands and began to laugh again. _'There's no arguing with Po's logic' _she thought as her laughter was dying down.

"See? You look much better when you're smiling" exclaimed Po as he nudged her with his elbow, making her lose her balance slightly.

When she regained her balance, she blushed slightly at Po's compliment. "Thank you Po, you're really sweet, and don't worry, my story gets better." She the extended one of her claws and with one swift motion, she sliced the apple in half right down to the stem. She handed one of the slices to Po, he gratefully accepted it. They then went over to the tree to sit down and lean against it. Po ate his slice in two bites, while Song took small delicate bites out of hers. After they both finished their apple, Song resumed her story "my depression almost got the best of me, except two things kept from falling into despair. One, was my desire to stay true to my word and be the leader the ladies needed. It helped me by keeping me persistent and dedicated on my goal. And the second thing kept me seeing the bright side of things. It kept telling me that no matter how dark things have become, if you don't give up, thing will become better eventually. All I needed to do was go back and remember a certain memory." Song was smiling more and more as her story progressed and then she looked over to Po. She clearly saw him trembling with anticipation for her to continue.

Po couldn't wait any longer as she paused, so he asked "so? What was this awesome memory?" while staring at Song waiting for the answer.

She only smiled even further as she said "well, the memory has to do with a very famous warrior that lives in a certain valley. I'm sure you know of him." she looked at Po smirk on her face.

Po began to contemplate on who she was talking about. He furrowed his brow, and placed his chin on his fist as he pondered over this mysterious warrior. Po finally came to a conclusion and yelled out "I've got it! It's Master Storming Ox right?"

Song just burst out with laughter at his failed attempt to guess who she was talking about. She calmed herself a bit before correcting him. "No Po, the certain valley is the Valley of Peace. And that famous warrior is none other than the legendary Dragon Warrior himself. I was talking about you Po, you big silly" said Song as she gently nudge Po in the side with her elbow.

Po stared at her with dumbfounded look "really, me?" questioned Po as he pointed a finger towards himself.

"Yes Po" assured Son..

"Why?" he replied with indication that he was still confused.

"When I was here you showed me how even though something bad happens, you still fight on. Not to mention, your happy attitude and the memories kept me smiling through the hard times." this time Song imitated Po's signature grin.

Po was at lost for words, so he fell back on a simple word "wow". After he began to think clearly he responded with a few more word "wow, I didn't know I had such an influence on people. I'm glad I was able to help, even though I wasn't there in person. So as you were saying"

"just when all hope was lost, we found the light to our dark days. We came upon a traveling circus while traveling and they came to us. They saw how large our group was and that we were all holding identical parasols. Right away they assumed we were performers. Since they have traveled all over without staying anywhere too long, they didn't hear of the ladies of the shade. The owner of the circus was such a nice old goat, named Kuzo, he offered us a job without a second thought. Normally we would have accepted the offer, no questions asked, but he was too nice to be deceived. I told him of our past, but he didn't care one bit, he said that did not matter in the least. He told us that he saw good within us and that that was all the assurance he needed. We were so overjoyed that we put on our best performance in the show. At first the people were cautious when we started, but over time they began to cheer and even asked for an encore. After that rumors spread again, but this time, we were regarded as great performers that must be seen. After that we were offered more jobs and slowly, we started to gain the trust of everyone around us." Song chuckled a bit before resuming, "before we knew it, we were the talk of many towns and villages. We were once even hired as body guards for to protect some important people involved in politics. We defended against many assassins, each one always caught by surprise. Who would suspect that a bunch of ladies with parasols would be trained how to fight." Song grinned at this "from there, we kept getting more jobs and soon we became more successful than when we were thieves. Now we're going to to go do a very special performance for an important lord, not too far from here as I mentioned in my letter." she then sucked in a deep breath and exhaled after finishing her story.

She looked over to Po and saw that the panda was practically jumping in his seat.

"WOOW! Song that is so awesome! Your story is just so great! Just when you think things have taken a turn for the worse, the power of GOOD and JUSTICE prevail!" exclaimed Po with both arms raised towards the sky. "I'm so glad that turning over a new leaf worked out for you"

"It was all thanks to you. I'm happy that you helped us realize our true potential" she then smiled tenderly towards "we will be forever indebted to you. Now that that's out of the way, it's your turn to tell what adventures you have had since I've left."

"Okay then little lady. Are you prepared to listen to stories of adventures that are filled with awesomeness and bodacity of epic proportions?" said Po in his story-telling manner, while grinning sideways at her.

"Bring it on" said song, imitating his tone.

"Well then make yourself comfortable because the magnitude of this story will require time to be fully told." Po then stood up to stand in front of her as he began to tell his story.

In the Valley of Peace

Tigress made her way towards the noodle shop. As soon as she entered the shop, the scent of freshly made noodles entered her nose. This reminded her of Po's cooking and how long it took her to finally try one of his noodle soups. It was quite delectable the first time she tried and the surprise of it clearly showed on her face. Po immediately noticed this and went into a frenzy of 'yeahs' and 'hoorays'. The memory made Tigress smiling slightly, remembering how much her opinion matters to him. The sound of pots and knife cutting brought her back and noticed the old goose behind the counter. She walked close to the counter and called out to him "Mr. Ping, may I have a moment of your time?"

The goose looked up and finally saw the Tiger standing in front of him. "Oh! Master Tigress! It is so good to see you again and sure you can." Mr. Ping set down his knife and looked back "now what do I owe the honor of speaking with a Kung Fu warrior such as yourself?"

Tigress stood straight as she said "I was wondering if you could he me locate Po. I need to find him and I thought that perhaps you may know about his whereabouts."

Mr. Ping began to chuckle lightly "oh my. Two girls in one day. He sure is very lucky" said Mr. Ping softly.

This only confused Tigress, "What are you talking about?" asked Tigress, puzzled.

Mr. Ping composed himself and quickly said "Oh! Uh never mind. Just idle chit chat, now as for Po I'm not sure if I can help you. Ii saw him in here earlier with this very cute snow leopard, but they did not mention where they would be. If I had to guess, I'd say Po is showing her around the valley."

as he explained, Tigress' features hardened slightly. Tigress bowed "Thank you for assistance, Mr. Ping. Now if you'll excuse me, I must resume my search" she said as she began to leave, but the goose's words stopped her.

"Tigress you should not be so worried. If you keep going like this, you'll grow wrinkles long before you get to my age." Mr. Ping laughed as he resumed cutting vegetables for his soup.

Tigress didn't question his words, even though they slightly confused her, she turned around and began her search again. Once she was outside of the shop, she began a slow pace as she walked around looking for Po. At first she would taken to the rooftops and ran on all fours in search of him, but Mr. Ping's words kept going through her mind. _'I could be worrying too much about this, even Po's father was able to notice this. Maybe I should trust Po, I may not trust this 'Song' person, but he does.' _Tigress has now been walking for a few minutes without any real direction. She then took a pause from her thoughts to notice the decorations that have been set up for the festival that is to come tomorrow. Lanterns of all kinds and colors strewn about everywhere in a very well-organized manner. Streamers, posters, anything that was used for festivals were placed here. She then noticed how the villagers were still busy preparing the village for the festival. There were immense piles of fireworks that could quite possibly last them for years to come. Carts full of supplies were being pulled all over the village delivering items that people needed in order to prepare. Although it seemed quite excessive, it did not surprise Tigress that the villagers wanted to thank Po and the Five for saving China, with the biggest festival they could pull off. _'Po deserves this festival. He has been through a lot ever since first becoming the Dragon Warrior. Hopefully he just doesn't have too much fun tomorrow' _Tigress chuckled lightly at the thought, but quickly stopped as he something caught his attention. An elderly rabbit was having difficulties pulling a fully loaded cart. Tigress quickly walked over and aided, "here, let me assists you with that" said Tigress as she took a hold of the cart.

The elderly man quickly said "Oh! Master Tigress, someone such as yourself should not trouble herself in such a small menial task"

Tigress replied "nonsense. It will be my pleasure to assist you. Now, where were you taking this cart to?" she then smiled lightly while looking at the elder for an answer.

The elder smiled wide as he said "I have to take this cart over to the other side of the valley. Also, may I say that, it is such a great honor to have one of Furious Five aid me!" then followed with a deep bow.

Tigress gave a another small smile as she followed the elder to their destination _'I should help out in the village with the preparations. This will be a great way to spend this day.' _

In the clearing outside of the Valley of Peace

"That's when he came at with his spear, but I quickly avoided each attack. Just when you thought he couldn't be even more dastardly and villainous, he uses his hidden daggers again. Little did Shen know that as he was trying to strike me down, he was cutting the ropes that were supporting the cannon that I destroyed. When it lost enough support, the cannon came crashing down! Unfortunately for Shen, he was underneath it when it came down. That was end of Shen" Po slightly lowered his head as he said that "but it was cool how at the end, all of them started to thank me. It's so awesome to have all those Kung Fu masters congratulate me. Even Master Tigress said 'that was pretty hardcore' which only made it better. It made me so happy that I actually hugged **her** this time." Po began to laugh.

Song's ear slightly twitched at hearing that. "That is a very thrilling story, but first" She then smiled as she raised her parasol and brought it down on his head.

Po placed his hand on his head where Song had tapped him. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Well for many reasons. One of those I shall keep to myself, but the other reasons are because of how much you don't take care of yourself. I know you're the Dragon Warrior, but that doesn't mean that you should throw yourself in to danger head-first. At least try to be careful" said Song with a playful grin.

Po then began to twiddle his fingers "well it's hard to do sometimes. There's always danger when you're the Dragon Warrior and you can't always plan things out in the heat of battle. When there's a call for action, I need to answer that call!" he then stood in a heroic pose.

Song couldn't help as she slightly laughed at his response, but quickly stopped as she heard a a noise. She heard a large rumble coming from a certain panda's stomach "I'm guessing that now you need some food" she said as she stood up from the rock "let's go back to the valley and find you something good to eat"she said as she opened her parasol and laid it back down on her shoulder.

"Now you're speaking my language. Let's go!" said Po with obvious excitement. Then they began their walk towards the valley. After about fifteen minutes they made it to the valley. "So song is there anything you'd like to eat?" Po asked as he looked at her.

"Anything is fine by me, except noodles. I'm still trying to get over them, but it still shook me up a bit." she said with a slight half smile, half frown.

Po chuckled nervously "Uh..sorry about that. I get easily distracted when I'm eating. No noodles, got it. Hmm how about **cheung fan**? It's like noodles, but in a roll!" he said with excitement filling his voice.

"Sure Po, let's go. I'll race you there" she said as she raced off ahead.

Po squinted his eyes and grinned saying "you're on!" he then ran after her.

They both were now neck and neck as they ran towards the shop on the other side of the valley. Both of them were laughing as they were running through town avoiding any collisions with the villagers as they worked. Po almost tripped over two bunnies and almost went through three carts, fortunately Song helped him avoid any of these disasters. As they were reaching the shop, Po began to breathe heavily and by some miracle he reached the shop first.

Po stopped in front of the shop followed by Song. He was still breathing hard ash placed his hands on his knees as he said through breaths "I knew I...would beat...you...maybe now you'll...think twice before you...challenge me." Po stood up as he took in one last long, breath.

"Well I would have been faster if I knew where the shop was and you slowed me down. I kept having to push and pull out of harm's way" she said as grinned and placed a paw on her hip.

"Thanks for that, it's good to know you have my back" Po then grinned, but then took in the scent from the shop which only caused his stomach to growl even louder than before.

"Come on Po, let's go in before your stomach eats itself" she then began to push Po into the store.

They stepped in and were quickly greeted with even more smells from the fired food. Po walked up to the counter and said "Hey there Mr. Hong, can you give me two orders of shrimp noodle rolls."

The old goose looked up and said "well if it isn't Po, it's been a while since you've come here. Ah I see you've brought a friend" said Mr. Hong as he noticed the snow leopard behind him. "And such cute one too, is she your girlfriend?"

Po began to grow red, as did Song. Po chuckled as he said "no, she's just my best friend."

This time both of Song's ears twitched, and her feature slightly lowered. She quickly composed herself before Po could notice. Po picked up the orders and moved towards a table. He placed down the food on the table and quickly went over to pull out a chair for Song. Song smiled at this as she sat down, while Po took his place opposite of her. "You really are a gentleman" she said while at him with smile.

Po replied with his usual grin "was there ever any doubt?" he began to eat his order, as did Song.

After they had both finished, Po rubbed his stomach in satisfaction. "Ahhh that was good. Now that we finished let's move on to desert. The next shop over has some really great sweets!" he said with excitement as he left money on the table and stood up to leave. Song followed after him.

They both entered the shop and after a few moments stepped out with their desserts. Po was carrying a bowl full of mango pudding and Song had a small tray full of sweet cream buns. When Po ate a spoonful he then became giddy as he licked his lips."Mmm they always have the best pudding here. How are those sweet buns?" he asked as looked kept walking.

"These are actually pretty good. Thank you for helping me choose back there" she then took a bit from one of the buns as she walked along side Po.

Po took in another spoonful and had the same reaction as when he took in the first one."This is so good. Here try some" he said as stopped walking to the fill the spoon and then held it out to her.

Song stopped too and looked at the spoon and then Po. She started to blush slightly as she took the spoon from him. She ate contents of the spoon, but was too distracted by Po's action to really notice the spoon. She was thinking of how Po would do something like that without much restraint or fear. She gave the spoon back to Po and said "thank, Po, it was really good."

Po replied with "see? What did I tell you" and chuckled.

Near Mr. Hong's shop in the Valley of Peace

Tigress was making her way back to the main street of the valley in order to go back to the Jade Palace. She had spent the greater portion of the morning and part of the afternoon helping the villagers. She moved carts, set up decorations, and even helped re-tile a roof in order to fix it in time for the festival. She was more than glad to help out anyone in need of help. She may have not spent her days like the other, but this was an equally good way to spend the day. As she was rounding a corner and saw Po and Song. She quickly darted back and pressed her back against the wall. She grabbed on to the wooden support beam of the house as she leaned to the side to look at the two.

She saw that the two were eating sweets while walking _'well I found them, but she isn't doing anything bad_.' she leaned back in to cover _'they only seem to be having fun as friends. I should just head off to the palace and let them have their fun'_

she leaned in and noticed that they stopped walking and Song seemed flustered for some reason. She saw that she was turning red and just when she was already confused, Song placed a bun in Po's mouth with a smile, followed by a giggle. A snapping noise came from Tigress' paw as she clenched her fist, splintering the beam and almost breaking it in half.

**Chapter 6 - End**

**Phew, that was a long one. Well there it is, tell me what you thought about it. No flames only suggestions, good criticism, or just telling me what you liked or didn't like. Well the festival is coming and hopefully everything will be intact by that time, read on and find out what happens next in Chapter 7 – Realization. Thank you for reading and please send me more reviews!**


	7. Chapter 7  Realization

**Yin and Yang**

**Hey there, Aldebran here. I'm sorry that I haven't updated in a while. Been busy, haven't felt well, new dog, Valentine's day, and writers block didn't help me out haha. I'll try to update more quickly from now on, so look forward to that. Thank you for staying with me, now I'll cut the chit-chat and move and on to the story.**

**Chapter 7 – Realization**

In the Valley of Peace

"Man, that pudding really hit the spot. I think next time I'll get an order of those sweet cream buns, they tasted pretty good too." Said Po as he rubbed his stomach and licked his lips in satisfaction, while walking along with Song.

"Yeah they were pretty good Po. Thanks again for the food, it was very delicious," said Song, with a smile directed towards him.

Po returned the gesture with a grin "Well it'd be a shame if anyone came to Valley of Peace, without trying it's fine cuisine," he then stopped and turned towards Song. "So, now that we finished eating, what would the lady like to do next?" asked Po with a slight bow.

Song giggled at his comment, "Well there is one thing. I have been wanting to slide down the stairs of the Jade Palace. Last time was so much fun, that I couldn't wait to do it again." she then gave him mischievous grin "You think you're up for a rematch Po?"

Po raised an eyebrow at her and squinted his eyes "I thought you'd never ask." Said Po in a joking, serious manner. "Follow me to Jade Palace" he then turned towards the palace and began to sprint his way there.

Song only smiled even more at him. She closed her parasol and then chased after him.

The rooftops of the Valley of Peace

Tigress was making her way across the rooftops, silently, on all fours. She has been following Po and Song since she first saw them with their deserts in hand. She made sure to be at a safe distance at all times, so as not to be discovered. She couldn't hear every word they said because she feared that if she were any closer, she might be seen. They weren't speaking too loudly, so she could only recognize most of the words said between the two.

Tigress began to growl softly _'She may be plotting to steal from Jade Palace again. Maybe this whole thing is a ruse and she is is only pretending to have turned good. She may even be acting as his friend, only to gain what she wants. I'll continue to follow them and make sure nothing happens. For her sake, she better not do anything that she will __**regret**__' _Tigress then quickened her pace as she saw that Po and Song had began to run.

At a harbor about a half a day's journey from the Valley of Peace.

A sweet, peaceful melody from a flute could be heard all throughout the harbor. This tune was coming from the bamboo flute, owned by Master Shifu. He was at the end of the dock, playing his flute with his eyes closed, while he sat with his legs crossed and Oogway's staff across his lap. A boat then appeared over the horizon and closed in on the harbor. When the boat reached it's destination and docked, the passengers climbed off the water craft. Three of the passengers began to make their way towards Shifu's location on the dock. By now, Shifu's melody was nearing it's end and Shifu's ear slightly twitched, as they picked up the sound of the three former passengers walking towards him.

When he finished the song, he placed his flute inside his robe, and stood up with his staff on hand. He turned around, placed his fist in his hand and bowed "It is good to see the three of you again. I trust that your trip was enjoyable" said Shifu as he raised his head.

The three returned the same gesture, and the one on the right spoke up first "Yes it was, Thank you Master Shifu."

The one in the middle raised his head and said "Master Shifu, you did not have to meet us here. We would have have more than gladly have met you in the Valley of Peace."

Shifu then chuckled lightly, "Nonsense, I need to make sure that you all make it to the valley in time. This is an important event and we can't have you three arriving late. Now let us make our way towards the valley" Shifu began to walk and passed the three.

The three turned towards Shifu and said in unison "Very well, Master Shifu" the three then followed the red panda.

At the top of the stairs of the Jade Palace

"Po, are you sure you're okay?" said Song, with concern, as she looked back at the panda climbing the stairs.

He was now panting as he climbed "Yeah...I'm fine,...I do this all...the time." he then stopped for a bit look ahead and saw that the top was only 20 steps further. He then resumed his sluggish walk towards the top.

"Fine, if you says so, I'll just wait for you here then." Song sat down on the top step, while she laughed at his stubbornness.

Po was on all fours, when he reached the top step. He was desperately trying to catch while he was bent over with one hand on his knee and the other on his stomach. "See...I told you...I do this all the...time. No big deal..."

Song continued with her laughter as she said with sarcasm,"Sure Po, whatever you say."

After a series of long intakes of breath, Po finally composed himself and looked towards Song. "Alright then, let's go to the barracks and get some pans," said Po, as he pointed back at the barracks with his thumb.

"Sure, Po, lead the way." She then waited for Po to walk before she followed.

The rooftop of the barracks in the Jade Palace

Tigress had already made it to the Jade Palace long before Po or Song had made it to the top of the palace stairs. She took cover within one of the trees near the stairs, leading to the hall of heroes. There she waited for Po and Song to pass by to go to the hall and prove her suspicions right. She saw that the doors were opened at the entrance and Po walked through with Song close by. Even though they entered Jade Palace, they didn't head in the direction of the Hall of Heroes, instead, they headed towards the barracks.

Tigress raised an eyebrow at this _'Why are they heading towards the barracks? The real items of value are all located within the hall, not the barracks. If she wanted to steal anything from the Jade Palace, there would be no reason for her to go to the barracks. There __**could**__ be more to this,' _she thought, then hopped over to nearest roof top and made her way to a vantage point, where she could observe from a safe distance. _'I can't get too close, it would be better if I stay outside of the barracks. At least this way I'll be able to see if she tries to head for the Hall of Heroes,' _she thought as she found a spot near the edge of the rooftop, close to the entrance of the barracks.

Near the entrance of the Barracks

As soon as Po and Song made it through the main doors of the Jade Palace, Song slowed down to a stop. Po noticed that she wasn't by his side anymore and looked back, "Song is something wrong?" asked Po with Concern as he noticed that she had also begun to frown. He turned around and walked towards her when she didn't reply.

Song lowered her head, "I-I just don't know if I should be anywhere near the Jade Palace. I still regret what I did the last time I was here. Maybe we should go somewhere else," said Song with sadness and regret in her voice.

Po looked at her sincerely, he knew that she must still have doubts within her. He then smiled and placed both of his paws on her shoulders, causing her to look up at him. She had a look of surprise on her as she looked at him and saw him smiling at her. He still smiled as he said "Song it's okay. You shouldn't feel that way, you're a good gu-er lady now, remember?"

"Well I know you see me that way, but what about everybody else here, like the Furious Five? They could still see me as an enemy and ask me to leave," replied Song.

Po chuckled and then responded, "First off, the Five aren't here, they have the day off. Second, even if they were here, they wouldn't do that. They all know about how you helped us out in getting Chalice back in the end. Not to mention the fact that you helped the other ladies turn over to the side of good! How could anybody think badly of you now? Besides, even if if somebody thought differently, I'd make sure to convince them and think otherwise, no matter what!" Po then put on his signature grin as he finished talking.

Song seemed to be at a loss for words from hearing Po's speech. When she found the right words to speak, she asked "Are you sure about that?"

Po lowered his arms from her shoulders, but his smile never left his face, "Of course I'm sure. I'd bet everything on that, without even a second thought," said Po, with no hint of lying.

Po always could put a smile on her face and this time was no exception, "Thank you Po, you really have way with words,"

he replied with another chuckle "Pfft no, I just told the truth, now come on, let's go and get those pans," he then turned and motioned towards the barracks.

She followed Po towards barracks and listened as he pointed out things inside the barracks, "Here we have our rooms. This one belongs to Mantis, that one to Viper, Monkey's in that one, Crane is next door, that one's Tigress'," Po pointed towards each room as he called out who they belonged to, "Finally, across from her's is my room."

"Wow, so this is what Kung Fu warriors' quarters looks like. Impressive" said Song as she looked around.

"They're kind of small, but they're still pretty awesome," said Po as he looked towards her, "The kitchen is in the next hall, so let's go," then he lead her towards the kitchen. "Now over here is the kitchen, look around if you want while I look for the pans," said Po as he entered the kitchen.

Song then entered the kitchen looked around and saw all of the pantries, utilities, and table before speaking, "Your kitchen is so big, who cooks for all of you?"

Po had his back turned towards her as he rummaged around in the corner, but still responded "Well, we used to have others do it for us, but ever since I first came to the Jade Palace I've kind of taken over the cooking."

"You cook? You never mentioned this before. You should cook something for me sometime, knowing you, I'm sure it will be great," she said as she continued looking around.

"Well, I don't know about great, but sure. Anytime you'd like something, I'll make it for you," Po then turned around and produced two wide pans, with wooden handles on opposite ends of the pan. "Remember these? These are the same ones we used last time, but I added a little extra to them this time," and a mischievous grin appeared on his face.

The grin and the words 'little extra', made her a bit cautious, "Um what kind of surprise would that be, exactly?"

"It's a surprise, but I can tell you that it will make things more fun. Now, let's go!" Po then raced out of the kitchen towards the exit.

Song only looked at Po as he left, "Well that really gives me peace of mind. Wait up, Po!" Yelled out Song as she chased after him.

The roof top of the barracks

Tigress was now sitting with her legs crossed while she waited for the two, on the rooftop of the barracks. The two had spent some time inside the barracks and she was beginning to become impatient. _'Those two have been in there for a while now. What could they be up to in there?They could be in trouble and in need of assis-' _Tigress' thoughts were interrupted as she heard the doors for barracks opening. She then stood up and saw that Po came out, followed by Song. She looked at both and something caught her attention, Po was carrying two pans and running towards the stairs, _'Why would he come up to the Jade Palace just for two pans? Is he going going to cook?' _her brow furrowed as she contemplated Po's actions.

After a few more theories, she noticed that Po had stopped at the stairs and so did song when they reached the stairs. Po handed her one of the pans, then they walked down about three steps, and stopped again. They placed the pans on the steps and then they took a seat on the pans. After this action Tigress' features softened and she smiled as she realized their intentions.

Tigress laughed inwardly as she realized that paranoia got the better of her, _'I should have known better. They were only planning to have fun, using one of Po's...unusual antics. I feel rather foolish now. I should leave those two to their reunion,' _She then stood up and turned around to leave, but not before taking one last look towards them. _'I hope they don't get too hurt from this dangerous endeavor,' _she smiled at this thought, then turned her head back, and ran on a all fours towards the training hall.

At the top of the stairs of the Jade Palace

"Wait Po! Don't start just yet," said Song before they would descend down the stairs.

Po looked to his left and asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you having second thoughts?"

Song smiled and kept looking away every time her eyes met his. When she spoke up, she stuttered slightly as she responded, " We-well I was wondering if yo-you would like to make all of this even more interesting?" She slightly lowered her head and looked up at him.

This caught his interest and he raised an eyebrow as he wondered what she was suggesting. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well I was thinking that the one to come in second, would have to do one thing of the victor's choosing. Think of it as doing the other one a favor, with no strings attached. The rules are that the first one to get to the bottom is the victor, simple," explained Song.

Po then placed a paw near his jaw and began to tap his bottom lip as he pondered this suggestion. After a few seconds, he stopped and grinned, "Sounds like fun, you're on!" Po looked even happier than before, as his smile widened from one ear to the other.

Song's smile grew almost as wide as Po's, when he accepted her proposition. She then switched her parasol to her left hand and then laid it on her left shoulder in preparation. Both Song and Po placed their free paw on the step beneath and in unison said "3...2...1...Go!" then they both pushed with their paw and began their descent down the stairs. Just like last time they picked up speed quickly and bobbed up and down repeatedly as they hit each step.

Everything was going as planned, both were smiling as they were racing, even the occasional "Wooo" was said by Po, but things took a turn for the worse when Song took a quick look towards Po and noticed that something was wrong with his pan.

Her eyes widened and she quickly yelled out, "Po! You're on fire!"

Po laughed because he thought she meant it in a complimentary way "T-t-t-thanks, b-but compliments won't make me g-g-go easy on you," stuttered Po from the vibrations.

She shook her head from his misunderstanding and then yelled even louder "No! Look down, you're literally on fire!"

Po's face then went completely still, he looked down, and just as Song had told him, he saw that what she said was true. The underside of Po's Pan was on fire, his eyes went wide and he then looked around frantically, in search of a solution. While looking around he noticed something else, and saw that Song's pan was also on fire. Po's demeanor then changed from panicking to serious, Dragon Warrior style! He tightened his grip on the wooden handles as he pulled back, slowing him down and then angled himself to the left so he'd move behind her.

Song noticed Po was doing something, "What are you doin-," but was interrupted as she saw that Po had slightly stood up on his pan and and started to lean forward.

"Brace yourself" was all Po said as he immediately launched himself towards her. As soon as he reached her, he coiled his left arm round her and lifted her off the pan. After he embraced Song, he then reached for one of the pan's handles and then shifted his balance to his front in mid-air, causing him to flip forward with Song and the pan. He proceeded to land on the steps with both Song and the pan in hand and without missing a beat, he turned his body around and used the momentum to swing the pan upward, hitting the second one. The second pan flew directly upwards and when it started coming down, Po stuck out the first pan and used it to catch and stack it on top of the other one. Once he had both pans, he quickly placed both of them on the steps and then turned his head towards Song, who was still in his one-armed embrace, "Song, are you okay? Man, I pictured that going way differently in my head. Maybe adding oil to bottom of the pans to make them go faster, wasn't such a good idea, after all." then Po chuckled nervously at his mistake.

Almost all of what Po said was barely heard by Song, as she was too distracted by Po's embrace. He may have not noticed, but she saw how close they were together. Po had put her at eye level so her feet were off the ground and their faces were only inches apart. Song wasn't concerned with the fiery incident that just occurred, but by Po's jade, green eyes that stared back at her own eyes. Her cheeks began to redden as she stared back at Po, which made her words turn into a whisper, "Yeah, Po. I'm fine."

He then lowered himself and released her from his embrace. He turned around to pick up the pans, but made sure they were not on fire before picking them up by the handles. "At least we almost made it to the bottom, see?" he pointed towards the bottom of the stairs, which was only about 12 steps further.

"Yes" was all Song could muster at that moment. Her cheeks began to return to their natiural color and so did her normal train of thoughts and senses. She then noticed the setting sun in the distance, her eyes then went wide as she remembered something, "Po, I just remembered something that I need to do and in order to do that I'll need my bag. Let's go back back to your father's shop."

Before Po could ask for clarification she had already toook off towards the shop. He just resigned himself to her word and followed after her.

After about a minute of running, Po caught up to Song, who was standing in front of the shop waving at him to hurry up. When he got to entrance he saw that the shop had a full house, which wasn't unusual, but what caught his attention was that most of the patrons were people that didn't live in the Valley of Peace.

_'Wow, people are already coming for the festival tomorrow. Guess they must be pretty hungry from traveling, which is good news for dad. Speaking of which, well thinking, there he is.' _he then looked at Song "Alright let's go and get your bag" he said as he entered the noodle shop. He lead the way as he weaved his way through the patrons and tables until he reached the pick-up counter. Inside, was his dad cutting vegetables for his noodle soup. He was cutting each vegetable with amazing precision, each piece falling into the pot, and with a fast movement of his hand, he added quick dashes of spices and herbs to it. His dad always had a special way about him whenever he cooked noodles, almost as if he was noodle chef equivalent of a Kung Fu master.

After he finished the new batch of noodles, he looked to his left and saw his son standing on the opposite side of the counter, "Ah, son, you're back! Did you come to help out? Today's been a very busy day with all the new customers arriving into the village for the festival. Tomorrow will be even busier," said his father as poured noodle soup into bowls.

"No, dad, I'm still with Song," he motion towards her with his free hand, "And we came by to pick up her bag. So, where did you place it?"

"Oh, well I put that bag in your room since it was so spacious after you moved into the Jade palace." said Mr. Ping with slight disappointment.

Po was already on his way to his room after he heard his father say 'room' and from the stairs he heard "Thanks, dad"

The goose then looked at Song who remained outside and asked, "So, how has your day been, with Po?" with obvious curiosity.

She just smiled even more than before and replied, "It's been wonderful. Your son really knows how to have a fun, relaxing, end enjoyable time."

the goose was happy with this reply, "That is good to hear. So he hasn't given you trouble then?" wondered, Mr. Ping.

Song's mind went back to some of the incidents, accidents, and close encounters that occurred today, slightly blushing at the memories, but quickly said "No troubles at all" before he would notice.

He then smiled and immediately knew, "Well, that's good. There is something you should know, Po may not be the most perceptive, or the smartest in the valley, and can be hard to work with sometimes, but he is dedicated, loyal, and goodhearted. Sometimes all he needs is a little nudge in the right direction and he'll take it from there."

Song knew what the goose meant, she was surprised by his perceptive skills, but was even happier with what he said. "Thank you, Mr. Ping," she said with a bow.

Just then, Po called down, "Hey, Song, I found your bag, come on up"

"Good luck," said Mr. Ping as he resumed his noodle making.

Song smiled as she walked in to the shop and up the stairs to his room, following his voice. She then entered the room and immediately saw all the Kung Fu-related items in his room. "You really like Kung Fu huh?" she inquired.

"Yeah, ever since I was a kid, I've always admired those that did Kung Fu, and even dreamed that one day I'd be a warrior just like them, fighting bandits and evil doers with my own Kung Fu skills. I always thought that it would have been impossible for me to do Kung Fu like the others, much less think that I'd be the Dragon Warrior, but the universe has a funny way of working," he chuckled at his joke and then handed her the bag.

She took the hand bag and then laid it down on the floor, along with her parasol. After a bit of searching she pulled out small white object. "Yeah it does, like letting me meet you. Do you remember this?" she asked as she handed Po the object.

He grabbed it and noticed that it was a scroll. He unrolled it and saw an ink painting of a red heart with two lines, crossing it, "You kept it this whole time?" he asked as he rolled it back up and handed it back to her.

She grabbed it with both paws and pulled it close to her body, almost as if hugging it "Of course. Like I said before, 'I will always treasure it.' I have always kept it near me, ever since the day you gave it to me. Every time I see that heart/butt ink painting, it reminds me of the time I became best friends with a certain panda, and it always brightens any one of my days," she knelt down and placed the scroll inside her bag.

Po then smiled as he remembered that day, "I'm glad you kept it, it means a lot to me. And you were talking about me, right?" he asked.

The question made her laugh, "Of course I meant you, it's not like there's another panda in this valley that gave me that scroll. Now, hold out your paw and close your eyes. I'll tell you when you can open them."

Po was a bit confused by her words, but did as instructed. All he could hear was a bit of shuffling coming from her and then heard her walking towards him. When she stopped walking she placed a small object in his paw and said with a lot of enthusiasm, "Now you can open your eyes!"

He opened his eyes, looked down at his paw, and saw a white scroll of the same size and feel of the one he gave to Song. He raised an eyebrow as he unrolled it, "Isn't this the same one that I gav-" but stopped talking as he noticed the scroll's content. The scroll looked identical, even had an ink painting, but it wasn't the same. This one had two lines starting at the bottom and as they progressed, it strated shaping itself into a heart and at the end, the lines curved and met. Within the borders of the two lines were multiple spots in an organized pattern leading almost all the way to the end. At the end, where the to lines met, was completely shaded in. The whole thing was made with red ink over white parchment. The painting reminded him of something, but couldn't quite recognize it. "Song, this kind of loks li-" Po was about to say, but stopped when he looked up at Song. Song had stood sideways to him and curled her tail into the shape of a heart. He then realized what the painting represented and laughed loudly

She laughed along with him, "Now you have something to remember me by when I'm not around."

Po then closed it and firmly gripped it, "Thanks, Song, you're the greatest. I'm glad you're my friend. I'll always this...Hey! I just thought of something!" Po features brightened as he said, "You should stay for the festival tomorrow! Oh man, it will be so much fun, with all the people, games, and food!"

Song's ears lowered a bit as she had to reject Po's suggestion. "I'd love more than anything to be able to go the festival, but I can not go."

Po's brightened features was then replaced with sadness and confusion. "Why not?"

"Well we still have to perform for the lord that hired us. That's within two days from now and I can't be late. I have my duty as the leader of the Ladies of the Shade to be there and to perform. I was only able to come for the day and it's almost time for me to take my leave. I have to go meet up with the other ladies." She was saddened as she explained her situation to him.

He shared the same emotion as her, but quickly changed it to a happier one as he said "I understand. It's a shame you won't be able to go to the festival, but there will always be more festivals. Besides, we can have just as much fun when it's just the two of us and there's always a next time."

This made her smile and change her mood, "Yeah you're right. Well, will you see me out of the valley?"

Po smiled, he stuck out his arm, placed the other across his chest, and bowed, "Gladly."

Song then picked up her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and placed the strap across her chest in order to free her hand. Po led the way out of his room, the shop, and towards the entrance of the valley. Po carried with him the scroll and the pans from the palace, while Song had her parasol on her shoulder. They walked in silence, but were very close to each other. Po was the first one to speak up when they reached the entrance to the valley.

"Thanks for coming Song, it was really great seeing you again. I really hope you come back, real soon, so we can have an even more awesome time, but uh with less fire. Sorry, again, about that," apologized Po as he looked sideways for a moment and rubbed the back of his head.

She laughed as she spoke, "It's okay, Po. I still had a lot of fun and you can definitely count on me coming back! I'll try to come back as soon as I can, when I'm not busy with the others."

Po snapped his fingers as he suddenly realized something. "Oh before you go, I realized that back at the steps of the Jade Palace, you reached the bottom of the stairs first, so you won the bet. So, go ahead, ask away and whatever you desire, I shall do it. You have my word, as the Dragon Warrior." he said as he placed his fist to his chest.

She was a bit taken aback by this, "Po, you don't have to do that. I thought the bet was canceled when we got off the pans."

He shook his head and then wagged his finger "It wasn't. You said that the first one to reach the bottom, wins. The rules didn't say that we had to be on the pans to win and it would at least make up for putting you in danger, like that. Besides, I enjoy doing things for my friends, especially best friends." He then grinned from one ear to the other.

At that moment, Song just stared at Po with a blank stare, and then suddenly, she dropped her parasol and just threw herself at Po to hug him. She hugged him as tightly as she could and slightly nuzzled against his fur. Po was a bit puzzled by her action, but then decided to go with it and returned the embrace. Their hug lasted about a full minute before Song pulled away to look at him in the eyes.

Her cheeks began to redden as she prepared her next words to say, "Po I've...decided."

"What would you like for me to do?" he asked, oblivious to her change.

Her cheeks were now a crimson red, in contrast with her silver fur. "Po, you're the best guy I have ever met. You're nice, loyal, kindhearted, and the greatest friend anybody could ever have. What I decided is something about myself."

She the motioned for him to get closer to her. He then leaned his head down and closer as he listened to her. She whispered into his ear, "What I decided is..."

Po's eyes widened completely, he lost his grip on the pans, and almost dropped the scroll in his other hand. He stood that way for a couple seconds, shocked from hearing Song's decision. When he was finally able to speak, all that came out were words filled with nervousness and disbelief. "W-w-what d-did you just s-s-say?"

**Chapter 7 - End**

**There done. I am so sorry for taking so long in updating my story. I thank all of you who were so patient with me, while I got myself straightened out. I will try my best to update much more quickly, next time. I left off with a cliff hanger, so I'll try to write quickly so your questions will be answered, next time in Chapter 8 – The festival. Please review.**

**P.S. Thank you for all the reviews, especially the ones that wanted me to update. It really helped me get past my block. Thanks again! Oh and I will finish this, no matter what. I promise to all of you!**


	8. Chapter 8 The Festival

**Yin and Yang**

**Hey there, it feels good to be back and writing like before, mostly. Thank you all that reviewed my story, it really helped me out. Well I'll keep this short, so let's move on to the story.**

**Chapter 8 – The Festival**

The entrance of the Valley of Peace

Po was still in shock by what Song had told him. His eyes were shot wide open, his lip quivered, and he still stood leaning towards Song. He tried asking again, "Song...did y-you just s-say..." but couldn't finish. He could barely think straight as he tried to process this new information. All he could do was wait for her response.

Song, nervously, placed her parasol in the space between her bag and her back. Her cheeks were now a deep red, and even though her spots are darker than her silver fur, they couldn't hide her blushing. She looked to her right and placed left paw on her right arm as she began to speak with the same volume as before, "Po, this isn't exactly the easiest thing to repeat, but I will try. Pay closer attention this time." She looked back towards Po and took in a large breath as she prepared herself. She exhaled and said, "I said that I have...decided that I would really like...", her voice began to lower again, "For you... to be..." She stopped for a few seconds to look at him, straight in the eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, she spoke. "I want you...to..."

The next three words were barely audible, but Po was close enough to make out what she said. Now he was certain he had heard right the first time. Now that he was fully aware of the situation, he blushed with full force. His white fur couldn't hide his cheeks reddening and how it spread to the rest of his face. He had never experienced something quite as big as this. At the Jade Palace, they taught how to handle any situation, to always expect the unexpected, but Po was never taught how to handle this. He never knew Song had felt this way, and in response, all he did was look back at her with the same shocked expression.

He stared at her, even though the day darkened, he saw her in a new light and saw her outer beauty. She had a curved, slender, yet fit figure, a healthy luster and shine to her fur, and how the pattern of her spots were placed perfectly and led up to her face. Now Po's breathing became ragged, as he became nervous. This did not stop him from staring, and now his glance moved towards her face.

He has seen her before, seen her face many times, but now he actually took the time to notice every feature on her face. He had never truly seen how beautiful she was. She had well kept fur, from the spots on top of her head, all the way to her snow, white muzzle. Her lips were full, well curved, and the dark color of her lips contrasted well against her white fur. It seemed that not even a hair was out of place, from her fur, to her whiskers, and all the way to her eyelashes that curled at the end. The one feature that Po noticed the most was her eyes. The sun had already set and the orange hue from it could barely be seen anymore as the moon and stars took their place in the sky.

The darkness from the night and the light from the moon had set over the valley. Her eyes had begun to get that same glow-like appearance that Tigress' eyes get at night. Now her eyes were even brighter than before, and her light blue, crystal eyes seemed to be able pierce right through him as she looked back at him. He didn't even make any effort to to avoid his eyes, as if he was mesmerized by the two shimmering pools of icy blue.

Song looked away when she noticed Po staring at her. "I know this is a lot to handle and it may come as a shock to you, but...it's how I truly feel." She looked at him, waiting for a response.

Po was still in shock, but regained enough senses to respond, "Um h-how long have you felt this way?"

"Well I guess you could say that it began when I was in my depression with the ladies. It was a hard time for me and in a very big way, you helped me get through it. It made me realize what a really great and wonderful person you are. New feeling arose from this, and I wasn't sure what they meant. The more I thought about them, the more confusing it became. It wasn't until today, when I spent the day with you, that I finally understood what those feelings meant." Song began to fidget with her fingers as she confessed all of this.

"Wow, w-we-well I-" he was interrupted as Song put a paw to stop him.

"It's okay, Po. You don't have to give me a response yet, I just wanted to let you know how I felt. Also, I have decided to use my winnings for next time when I visit. I would...like for you to court me, but next time, as a lady and not just as a friend." She then took him by surprise by taking another step forward and hugged him.

Po was still blushing and was still confused by the turn of events, and her sudden hug didn't clear the confusion. She embraced him tightly as she tried to fit her arms around him and nuzzled her face against his chest. He may not have been entirely understood the situation, but he knew that he didn't want to ruin this moment, so he returned the hug. It wasn't until he hugged her that she began to purr. This too was a new experience for Po, but it was more soothing than he would have imagined. The vibration and noise from her purring seemed to to relax Po, so much that if given enough time, he would have fallen asleep to it.

They stood there, embracing each other for a good ten seconds before Song pushed back a bit, but not too far, so as to remain in his arms. She looked up at him with a tender smile and wished that this moment could last a bit longer, but she knew this had to end. "Thank you, again, for everything, Po. I had so much fun, there isn't a single thing I would change, and I can't wait to return."

"I know what you mean, it's always great to hang out with friends." As soon as he finished speaking, she raised her paws up to his face and placed them on both sides of his face. She pulled him in and kissed his left cheek. He had been kissed before on the cheek by her the last time she was here, but this kiss was different. This one lasted about three seconds, but when compared to the last one, this one seemed to go on forever. This time he could clearly feel the press of her lips against his cheek. His heart began to beat at such a fast pace that he was certain she could hear it.

She pulled away and looked up at him to see that his face was completely red making her giggle. "Well it's time for me to take my leave." She took a step back,breaking the embrace, and turned towards the entrance. "Goodbye, Po, 'till next." She took off on all fours at an incredible speed and within seconds, she disappeared from sight.

All Po could do was wave as she left the valley. He had never been so confused and shocked in all his life. The only other event that could surpass this moment, was when he was declared the Dragon Warrior. The difference between the two was that there were distractions after he was named the Dragon Warrior. There were no distractions now, it was just him and his thoughts. He stood there for a full minute before attempting to move. He turned around to walk away from the entrance, but quickly fell. He tripped on the pans he dropped after hearing Song's news.

"Of course," he said as he lifted himself up, "better get these back to the kitchen. Don't want to get Shifu mad again."

He picked up the pans and made his way towards the palace. His thoughts seemed to torment him and confuse him even more. _'Oh man, what do I do? I never knew she felt that way. I don't know what to do, nobody ever told me what do in case something like this happened. Maybe I should ask my dad for advice.' H_e pondered that for a bit before rejecting it.

_'Nah. I can't go to my dad for this kind of thing. He'll probably act like a parent and embarrass me without really helping me. Maybe one of the Kung Fu scrolls has a way to deal with this, but I really doubt it. They teach you how to become a Kung Fu master, not how to deal with girls. I thought Kung Fu was hard, but this is beyond hard. Kicking bad guy butt is one thing, but this is out of my reach.' _He sighed heavily and lowered his head as he kept walking.

_'Maybe one of the five can help me. Although if they knew, I'd probably never hear the end of it, especially from Mantis and Monkey. Those guy always make fun of me and if they knew about this, it'd be like giving them an opportunity to humiliate me. Maybe with time I'll figure it out.' _He lifted his head and saw that he was nearing the stairs of the Jade Palace. He looked around and saw many people setting up last-minute decorations and moving things around in preparation for the festival. _'The festival! That's right, it's tomorrow. I can't let this bother me when the festival is so close. I have to enjoy myself, otherwise the whole thing will go to waste. I can already see it now. There will be music, singing, decorations, new people, and sooo much food!' _

He smiled and almost drooled as he visualized all the food that would be served tomorrow. The thought of the festival, including all of its benefits, had completely filled his head, leaving no room for anything else. He would have completely forgotten about the whole ordeal with Song, except that he noticed a familiar wall, full of posters. This time, the wall had many more posters than before, mostly posters about the festival to come. They almost completely covered the wall, covering the others that were previously there. They did cover most, but one poster had only a quarter of it covered and could still clearly be seen.

Before Po could think about it, he had already stopped in front of it and removed the poster covering it. He looked at the aged poster with the dragon and tiger, over the Yin and Yang symbol. The dragon resembled the statue that once held the dragon scroll. The dragon was long, it curled around its side of Yin and Yang. It's color was the same as that of gold and it had light green eyes. The tiger on the other side had a more of a gray-silver color, with black stripes, and was on all fours. The way the dragon and tiger circled each other made it seem like they were two wolves ready to attack each other, but their facial expression said otherwise. They weren't furious or even had the slightest hint of anger. They had a cool and calm expression on their faces. Underneath them was that same quote that made him stumble down the stairs two nights ago.

As he looked at the poster, a thought came to him, _'Maybe that tiger didn't represent Tigress and maybe it's actually Song. Well the tiger and Song have the same color fur, and she is a feline.' _It took him a while to fully comprehend what he just thought of. He jumped back and let out a small yell.

After he calmed down, he let out a small sigh, and resumed his walk towards the Jade Palace. "This is so strange. Hopefully I figure things out before it gets even weirder...I wonder if Monkey has any more cookies."

The iron wood trees near the Jade Palace

Tigress stood in a solid stance in front of an iron wood tree, with her eyes closed, and breathing deeply in and out. Suddenly, she opened her eyes revealing two glowing and fearsome, orange eyes, completely focused on the objective at hand. She quickly started with a quick and powerful palm strike with her right paw, next, without wasting a second, she spun to the right and did a back paw strike with her left paw. She followed with another strike underneath her outstretched arm, then she spun to her left and used the momentum to jump and spin kick with her left foot. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she dug her feet into the ground, furrowed her brow, peeled her lips back to reveal white teeth and fangs, and struck with a quick and ferocious double palmed strike.

She turned away from the tree, brought both of her paws together and pushed down as she let out a long breath. The tree was still vibrating from the onslaught of her attacks. She stood still as the sound of splintering wood came to fruition, followed by the sound of the tree hitting the ground. Tigress stood still and let the night air cool her off.

After a minute of standing still, she began to walk back towards the palace, leaving behind a dozen broken iron wood trees on the ground. While walking away she looked down at her paws and noticed that they were bruised and slightly cut from hitting the trees. _'I should bandage my paws as soon as possible, so as not t-' _

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a noise coming from the Jade Palace barracks. She stopped, moved behind a tree, and listened intently for more noise to confirm that she hadn't imagined the first sound. She didn't hear anything and was about to dismiss it as nothing, but the noise came again, but this time it was louder and sounded like clattering from pots or pans.

_'That could be Po in there, but better safe than sorry.' _She took off quickly, but silently, on all fours. When she reached the barracks she used a window, instead of the doors, to enter. The noises were coming in louder and clearer, and she was certain now that the noise emanated from the storage room, where they keep supply and rations. She quietly proceeded down the halls and saw that there was light coming from the storage room. She reached the doorway and placed her back against the wall.

She was about to take a look inside, but noticed a big round shadow moving in the light and heard it saying, "Come one now. Almost gotcha." Then came the familiar grunts from trying. "Time for the crazy feet...nope, too short." By now Tigress knew who was in there, she let out a sigh, and walked in to see Po hanging in the air. He was standing on one of the beams on the ceiling reaching towards a corner.

His goal was a jar filled with cookies placed up high in a well-concealed corner. He was straining as he tried to reach the jar, while keeping his balance. He was already on the edge of the beam, any further and he would fall. He inched out a bit further to reach, but it was too far and he began to fall. Out of instinct, he pushed his feet against the side of the beam and pushed his left paw against the wall near the jar. He stopped falling and was suspended over the ground, but now he was was close enough to the jar. With his free paw he reached in and pulled out an almond cookie. He licked his lips in anticipation, "Ha! I knew I'd get you."

Before he could eat it he was stopped by an unexpected question, "Po, what are you doing up there?" The surprise from someone being there made him loose his grip. All he could do was let out a small yelp as he plummeted towards the ground.

He landed on his front with a loud 'thump'. He groaned slightly from the pain, then rolled over onto his back to scan the room, and see who asked the question. He found Tigress kneeling near him, "Oh, hey Tigress, what's up?"

"Are you okay?" She extended a paw towards him.

He accepted her paw and she helped him stand up. "Yeah, I'm fine. My face and ribs broke my fall."

"What were you doing up there?" She repeated her question. He lifted his right paw to show a cookie, as a response to her question. She stared at it with a puzzled look on her face, "So, you climbed up there and got yourself hurt, for a cookie?"

"Well, when you put it like that that, it sounds kinda dumb and pointless." He looked away and rubbed that back of his neck. "But these are Monkey's almond cookies. These are like the best cookies in the whole valley." He opened his eyes as an idea cam to mind. He took the cookie and split it in half and handed one of the pieces to her. "Here, try it."

"I don-" She was about to reject it, but he cut her off.

"Before you say no, let me say one thing. If you try this and by some impossible chance you don't like it, then I won't ever offer you another one. But, if you like it, you enjoy the rest of the cookie."

She thought about it and saw no point in rejecting it, "Alright then, I will try it." She took the piece from his paw, but not before Po noticed her paw.

He saw that it was damaged and wondered why she had not tended to it, but chose not ask about it yet. He saw her take a small bite, he held his breath in anticipation and was growing impatient as he waited for her evaluation. She finished it and a small smile spread across her face. He felt a bit uneasy because he wasn't sure whether the smile was a good thing, or a bad thing.

"You were right. I do not usually partake in sweets, but this pastry is rather good." When she finished speaking she took another bite of her cookie.

"I knew you'd like it!" He smiled and then ate his piece in one bite. After he swallowed, he asked, "Hey Tigress, I kinda noticed that your hands are damaged. Shouldn't you like, wrap them up or something?"

She finished her piece and looked down at her paws, that had were covered with bruises, small cuts, and the fur on her paw was slightly ruffled. "You're right, I was planning on that. I guess I was so distracted by your antics, I must have forgotten about it."

"I'll go get some for you. Wait right there." He left before she could even make a comment.

She waited for few seconds before hearing the sounds of his footsteps again. He was slightly out of breath from running, "Here you go," he said as he held out a roll of bandages.

"You didn't have to do that. You don't have to waste yours, I still have some in my quarters."

"That's okay, I have plenty of these. I still get hurt, plenty, during training. I always have many because I go through them quicker than everybody else here in the palace." He spoke with pride for being prepared. "Although, that's not really something to brag about." He held out the roll even closer to her now.

"I suppose you do," She took the roll and unwound it. "Thank you, but having so many is an indication that you should be more careful" She began to wrap the bandage around her paw and in between her fingers.

"Hey, it's not always my fault. I don't get hurt on purpose, sometimes danger and pain find me."

"You do have a knack for attracting trouble." She teared the bandaged when she finished bandaging her paw, and then began on the other. "And speaking of trouble, what seems to be troubling you?"

This caught him by surprise, "W-what makes you s-say that?"

"Well, you seem to be stuttering and you eat when you are troubled. Also, we have been training here for some time now, so I can tell when something is on your mind."

He looked down and began to twiddle his fingers, "Um, just...trying to distract myself. Finding Monkey's cookies always take a lot sleuthing and mind work to find them"

_'Why would he want to distract himself? Perhaps something occurred between him and that leopard.' _She voiced her thoughts, "Did something happen while you were out with your friend?" He flinched as he heard the question. _'It seems I was right.'_

"N-no not really. We had a lot of fun and nothing that bad happened, aside from an accidental fire-related problem." He looked away as he mentioned the last part. "Just some complicated thoughts that are new to me. I'll deal with them later on, but for now, I just don't want to think about it, too much."

Tigress pondered this for a moment and decided not to meddle too much. She finished dressing her other paw. She made sure that they weren't too retraining by flexed her fingers and making fists. "I'm not too sure what happened, but I do know that this no way to relieve your mind of perplexing thoughts."

He looked at her when he asked, "What do you suggest I do?" He quickly regretted asking as soon as he saw the smirk on her face and gulped loudly.

A few moments later in front of the training hall of the Jade Palace

"Are you sure about this? I mean, we could do something else. How about mahjong? That's fun right?" He asked as he tried to figure out a way out of this new dilemma.

"Po, focus. You're not getting out of this. Training is a good way to distract oneself from intruding thoughts. Now get into your stance."

"B-but what about your paws?"

"Do not worry. This is not serious, I'll hold back so I won't hurt you."

She did not understand his meaning, but gave up trying to convince her to change her mind. "No I meant that I, uh, never mind. Alright then, if you really think this will help, then I'm in." He got into his stance and faced Tigress.

She placed her left arm behind her back, raised her other arm with her palm facing him. "I am ready."

Po took the first strike and began with two quick jabs, to which she deflected both. She countered with her own over head swipe, but it didn't make contact because he ducked in time to avoid her attack. While near to the ground he tried to do a sweep kick, in response, she jumped, but she didn't expect him to attack again. He retracted in his leg and kicked upward to strike her, while she was in the air. Fortunately, she saw it and responded by placing her paw on his foot, used his kick to push herself upward and flipped over him, landing behind him. He looked behind and gawked at her with the same look that he gave her when she performed a perfect split.

"Cool," He said as as he stood up to face her.

She smiled at his reaction to her and returned to her stance. "Continue."

He began again striking at her open palm. Po's thoughts were clearing and saw that she was helping him, so he should open up more to her. "Hey, Tigress, um can I ask you a question?"

"No, I will not help you look for Monkey's cookies in the future."

He laughed as he continued with strikes. "No, that's not what I wanted to ask. What do you do when you don't know what to do?"

This confused her, "That doesn't make too much sense."

"Sorry. What do you do when you're faced with a new problem and you don't know what to do? Something that has never happened before and you don't really know who to talk to about it." He explained as best as he could.

She side-stepped as he aimed for her head. She struck upward when she responded, "That is quite a challenge. I have been in that situation myself a few times, so I can tell you what I have learned. If no one around you can assist, then listen to yourself. Listen to your inner self. Do what you think is right and do not let yourself be discouraged if it turned out to be the wrong decision. At least, you will have learned from your mistake and be more prepared if it should ever occur again. " She said as she jumped and tried to land a downward heel kick to his head, to which he rolled out of the way, kicking up a lot of dust were she landed on the ground.

She stood up, facing Po, and this time, she attacked first. "One thing, you should remember, that whatever it is that conflicts you, you should not let it consume you. If you let it take over, you will change and it will affect those around you. Try to solve the problem at a good pace, don't over do it, and over time, an answer will come." She said as she ducked and flipped backwards, avoiding his attacks.

He stood there staring at her, stunned by what she said. "Wow...that was a bit unexpected. You answer was great, I understood it all. You're very helpful and wise, Tigress."

Tigress was shocked from the compliment and faltered a bit. Po noticed this and was not sure why it happened, but he took the opportunity. He struck with with his left, this caught her by surprise, but she still reacted quickly enough to stop his attack by grabbing onto his wrist. She swept at his feet with her leg, she pushed with her free paw on his side to the right, twisted his wrist to the left.

He flipped forward and would have landed have landed on his back, instead, he pushed forward and landed on his feet. "Ha! I saw that one coming." He slipped his paw out of her grip and prepared for his next attack. He launched a right straight jab towards her and even though he countered her throw, she still tried it again. She swat it with her left paw, placed her right paw on the the underside of his arm, near the pit of his arm, and gripped his arm with both of her paws. She reared back a bit, spun to her right until she faced the same direction as Po, and placed his arm on her left shoulder. She followed by pulling his arm, making him lose his balance, and then she pulled downward, lifting him off the ground and flipping him forward.

Po let out a yelp as he flew through the air for the fifth time today. He landed more softly than he imagined, but still strong enough to land with a loud noise and enough to still hurt. He opened his eyes and saw the nighttime sky, filled with bright stars, the moon to his left, and to the right side of his vision, he saw two bright, orange and red eyes looking down at him with a smile. Tigress stood over him, while still holding onto his arm. "I didn't see that one coming." He chuckled as he knew that he was bested again.

"Here," She said as she lifted him off the ground.

"Thanks," He said as he got up, "You know, this reminds me of the time when we were on that boat, on our way to Gongmen city. You still beat me when we sparred, but it was fun and cool." He smiled as he reminisced.

"Sparring is not a contest. We are only practicing and refining our skills, but it can be, as you say, fun." She smiled at him in return. Po walked over to the steps and sat down on the steps. Tigress followed and took her place on the steps, two feet away from him. "You have been getting better, although it may seem cunning, it was a bit underhanded to distract me with that false compliment."

Po looked at her with a raised eyebrow in confusion, and realized what she meant. "Oh, that wasn't meant to distract you. I really meant what I said about you being wise and helpful. I had no idea it would distract you."

"Oh, well t-thank you," Was all Tigress could muster as she realized her mistake. She looked ahead because she was at a loss for words. She thought mostly about the fact that she was just given a compliment, something she was not used to.

Oblivious to her reaction, he continued. "Yeah, I'm really glad you came when you did. I feel much better now, all thanks to you. Maybe I should seek your help more often, but don't worry, I won't bother you with every single little thing. I know it would get kinda annoying if I bothered you with the most simplest things ever."

This caused her to look at him, "You shouldn't hold back. I'll be glad to help you whenever you are in need of assistance. It should not matter how small it is, I will help. After all, we are friends, you should not have to face everything alone, so you should rely on your friends more often." After she finished, she noticed that Po had gone completely still while staring at her. "Po, are you okay?" She asked with concern in her voice.

He shook lightly as he responded, "I'm more than okay, I'm great! I mean, I know that we are friends, but for you to actually say it. You, Master Tigress of the Furious five, it's just so awesome that I can't find the right words to describe it!" By now, Po was on his feet, ecstatic from the moment.

Tigress stared at him and then smiled at his clownish behavior. "Po, you're ruining the moment."

"Oh, sorry about that," he sat back down when he regained most of his composure, "But can you blame me? It's just so cool! You're really great at cheering people up, even though you're all hardcore and stuff." This made Tigress' ear twitch. "Now I'm in a great mood, you helped me figure out a way to solve my problem, and you said we're friends! Today has been a great day and to make things even better, the festival is tomorrow."

"The festival **is** tomorrow isn't it?"

"Yep. It's going to be fun with all the games, decorations, food, and dancing. It'll be great, especially since you'll be there."

"Oh, really?" She spoke with disbelief in a mild joking manner.

"Yep," he spoke with without a hint of doubt, "Festivals are fun and all, but it's even better if you celebrate them with friends and loved ones." He turned to Tigress when he heard her standing up.

"I am not really the type to go to festivals, especially ones such as this," She walked down the steps and walk towards the barracks.

Po feared that he had done something to upset her, making her not want to go to the festival anymore. He stood up and was about to apologize, but she looked back towards him and spoke first. "But this one will be different. It will most likely be an enjoyable one and I look forward to tomorrow. Goodnight, Po." With that, she turned around and continued her walk towards her quarters.

"Goodnight, Tigress." He let out a long sigh of relief and grinned when she was out of sight. He sat back down on the steps and stared up at the night sky. _'It's going to be great going to the festival with Tigress and the rest. Aside from what happened in the end, I still wish that Song could have made __it to the festival with us. I still don't know how to respond or what to say to her the next time I meet her. I could feel the same way, but I do know that right now, I'm not sure. Hopefully I can get this all straightened out before next time, but let's leave that for later.' _

He stood up while still staring at the sky. "Right now, I should be thinking about tomorrow and how I will spend it. Ooooo I wonder what kind of food they'll serve. I hope they have good bean buns!" Once again, he licked his as he visualized food.

**Chapter 8 - End**

**Phew, there, done. This one was even longer than the last one. Well this time I ended it with no cliff hanger, sorry about the last one haha. Thank you for reading and all the reviews so far. Please tell me what you think of this chapter, what you liked, didn't like, or even any suggestions to help make my story even better. I hope you all will keep on reading in the future. Sorry, this took longer than expected, but mostly because the site wouldn't let me publish my story. Well I'm just glad it was taken care of.**

**The festival is right around the corner, what will happen on that day? Find out in the next update, Chapter 9 – Fun, Games, and Surprises. **


	9. Chapter 9 Fun, Games, and Surprises

**Yin and Yang**

**Hey there, sorry, this chapter would have been updated more quickly, but there was new video game that came out and I got distracted. You guys know which one, right? Haha well here it is, hopefully no more distractions in the future. Now, on to the story.**

**Chapter 9 – Fun, Games, and Surprises**

**In front of the training hall of the Jade Palace**

"Well, looks like someone had a fun time."

Po looked down and saw that Monkey and Mantis were looking at him with grins on their faces. "Huh? Oh, hey Monkey, Mantis. When did you two get here?"

"Well we just got here about a few seconds ago," Said Monkey with a chuckle, "just in time to see that big smile of yours."

"It seems that you had fun with your lady friend huh, big guy." Mantis jumped on Po's shoulder and slightly nudged him on his neck.

"Yeah, I did have fun. This was a great day, even though there were some less than safe incidents it still turned out fun. I owe it all to both of them." Po turned his head towards Mantis, showing his smile that wouldn't leave his face.

He laughed when he heard this. "I knew it! You're one lucky pan- wait, what?" His eyes went wide as he realized what Po said. "You said 'both'. Are you saying that you spent the day with two females? What about that Song person, who sent you that letter?"

Po looked at Mantis and Monkey and saw that they each mirrored the same shocked expression making him chuckle. "I did spend the day with Song, actually most of the day. It's just that after she left I came back to the Palace and I met Tigress here. We sparred and talked for a bit, and Kung Fu is already awesome, cool, and fun, but this time I enjoyed it more than usual." He smiled as he remembered the whole day he spent with both Song and Tigress.

Monkey crossed his legs and let his tail hold him up. "Oh that's what you meant. Well that's good, but what exactly did happen that made you so happy?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know what happened and what did you talk to Tigress about?" Mantis was more curious about their conversation. Tigress was not really the kind to inspire happiness when you speak to her. She seemed to prefer actions, rather than words.

"Well, I met Song at the bottom of the stairs and from there w-" Po stopped speaking as he heard a female voice.

"Hey there, you guys. Why are you all here? Shouldn't you all be sleeping by now? We do have a big day tomorrow." The voice belonged to master Viper. She slithered up behind them, followed by Master Crane.

"Well it's good to see that the village was not burned down and that you all are still in one piece, especially you, Po." Crane looked over at Po as he finished his sentence.

"Hey, I can take care of myself and the village. I mean, sure, I get hurt a lot, accidentally break some things, and sometimes I make things worse, but that doesn't mean you can't trust me with things around here." He frowned as he realized what he said. "Oh, that is so not helping me."

Monkey laughed at his description of himself. "We trust you, Po. The only thing we don't trust is how you're so danger-prone. There's always trouble following you."

"You got me there, but it's not like I do it on purpose."

Mantis placed one of his mandibles on his side while he spoke. "We know, big guy. I just hope it doesn't follow you tomorrow during the festival. I'd like to, you know, actually enjoy it." He then took on a a more worried turn. "There will be fireworks at the festival, so try to stay away as much as possible, okay? You and fireworks don't mix very well."

He crossed his arms, lifted an eyebrow while still smiling. "Okay, I may have had a few bad...mishaps with them, but there have been good ones too. I used them to defeat Tai Lung, besides, this time I plan to watch them not blow them up. I have been looking forward to this festival too and I plan on enjoying every minute of it." He looked up at the sky, noticing the time.

"Speaking of which, Viper is right, I'm going to back to my quarters to catch up on my sleep. I want to get up early so I don't miss a single moment of the festival." He turned around and made his towards the barracks. Mantis jumped off his shoulder to Monkey's shoulder when he passed by him. "Goodnight, guys. See you tomorrow!"

"Goodnight, Po," Viper then turned her gaze towards Monkey and Mantis when Po was out of sight. "So, what were you three talking about before we arrived?"

Monkey smirked and rested his chin on his fist while speaking. "Well, we just asked him how his day went and it turns out that he had a fun time." He tried to stifle his laugh as he remembered their conversation earlier.

Both Crane and Viper were confused by his response, so he voiced the question on both their minds. "What, exactly, do you mean?"

Mantis began to laugh alongside Monkey. "Apparently, Po had a great time with his friend, Song, but after that he also had fun with Tigress. I know it doesn't sound weird now, but they sparred and talked. I don't know about you, but sparring with Tigress isn't much fun."

"Yeah, so it seems that the talking part was the fun he talked about. He was about to tell us what they talked about before you two showed up." Monkey's expression showed a bit of disappointment because they didn't fully know what happened between the two.

"Hmm, well Tigress isn't one for words and her definition of fun is training. There is definitely more to this, but its best not intrude. This is probably a private matter so no more asking unless he freely explains it to you." Viper pointed her tail to both Monkey and Mantis. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll follow Po's lead and rest for tomorrow. I suggest you all do the same, Goodnight." She smiled at each one and slithered off.

Mantis stretched out his mandibles and spoke while yawning. "She's right, let's go and rest up. Tomorrow's a big, big day."

"Yep, let's go." Monkey walked off towards their quarters with mantis still on his shoulder with Crane following beside them.

**The hallway of their quarters in the barracks**

Tigress was in her quarters, sleeping and awaiting for the day to come. Due to her training, she wakes up at the slightest noise in case of attackers. She woke up to hear footsteps coming from the end of the hall, but didn't rise from her cot. The sound of the footsteps were heavy and made the floorboards creak and moan loudly under the pressure. She didn't even have to guess who was the cause of the noise, and he was even talking to himself. She tried to return to her slumber, but he spoke too loudly.

Po tried to speak quietly, but couldn't hold in his excitement. "Oooohh man, I can't wait for tomorrow. This is going to be so awesome!"

Tigress sat herself up, shifted her legs to the side of the cot and placed her feet on the ground. She was about to step outside and tell him to be silent, but stopped herself. She wasn't the kind to eavesdrop someone's conversation or privacy, but he was speaking so loudly that she couldn't block it out, especially when he began to speak about her.

"I'm so glad I ran into Tigress when I did, otherwise I'd be all contemplative and devoid of emotion. I should definitely thank her somehow." He slid his door open and closed it behind him when he entered.

Tigress smiled when she heard this. She laid back down on her cot and relaxed. _'This festival will certainly be different' _She thought while keeping her smile as sleep engulfed her once again.

"I wonder what she'd like, maybe something she can eat. I could ask her if there's anything she'd like?" Po sat down on his cot and looked at his door as he contemplated if he should go and ask her. Po waved the idea away with a motion of his hand. "Nah. I shouldn't bother her, she's probably asleep by now, and it'd be rude to wake her. I'll ask her tomorrow." Po lifted his legs onto his cot, lowered himself down, and placed his paws on his stomach. He yawned as he his eyes grew heavier with each passing second. "Can't...wait.."

**The next morning in the barracks of the Jade Palace**

The sun had now bathed the entire valley with its rays signaling the start of a new day. There were a few clouds in the sky, but not a single sign of any bad weather this day, indicating that this would be warm summer day. This great weather could not have arrived at a better time because today was momentous day. This day is the day that the Valley of Peace is celebrating all the heroic deeds done by the famous Kung Fu Warriors that reside within the Jade Palace. They were holding a festival of such a high caliber that word spread quickly to the surrounding villages and even cities.

As soon as anybody heard the words 'festival,' 'Furious Five,' and 'the Dragon Warrior' they quickly made arrangements to travel to the Valley of Peace for the festival. After hearing about how Kung Fu saved all of China, who could resist to see its heroes? There were many who arrived from out of the village early, filling every inn in town, and there would be even more people to come when the festival begins. The streets were already beginning to get crowded as street vendors setting up their shops, villagers preparing themselves for the festival, and people setting up the stage and preparing for arrival of the Dragon Warrior and the Furious Five.

**The Jade Palace**

All throughout the Jade Palace there was silence and tranquility. The first bell had not sounded yet so the Kung Fu Warrior that lived within the palace had not yet awaken from their slumber, except for a certain panda. Po was in the kitchen preparing breakfast as usual, but this time he did so with a lot more enthusiasm and excitement. He was quickly working through many dishes at once, boiling water, stirring one pot, and preparing the kettle for tea. At first sight it would seem he's moving at an incredible speed and enough precision that would put any other chef to shame, however, Po is almost completely unaware of his culinary prowess. This morning he woke up early and looked outside to see that the sun would not rise for another hour.

He attempted to return to sleep, but the thoughts of the festival wouldn't allow it so he gave up. He didn't want to wake anybody else, but he desperately needed a distraction from the thoughts constantly passing through his mind. These thought weren't bad, in fact, he enjoyed them, but had no one to speak to about them for a while. The only thing he could think of that could pass as a distraction until sunrise was breakfast. He thought he'd get an early start and that it would, hopefully, get his mind off the festival. He exited his room and made his way to the kitchen as quietly as the floorboards would allow him. When he reached the kitchen thoughts of different meals were already racing through his mind which led him to make too many meals.

The first sound of the bell rang and the Furious Five had already awakened and stood in front of their doorways. They all looked toward the same direction to see that their red panda master was not in his usual place. "It seems that Master Shifu hasn't returned yet." Viper looked at his usual place then back the the other five.

"Maybe he'll be back in time for the festival." Crane walked out into the hallway.

"Yeah I'm sure he'll be there. And speaking of pandas, is Po still sleeping?"Mantis pointed towards the closed door, leading to Po's room.

Tigress walked towards his door and stood in front it. "Po, wake up. Just because Master Shifu isn't here does not mean you should slack off." She waited for few seconds and when she didn't get a reply she slid open the screen door. "Po?" She looked inside and saw nothing in there, except for one cot. She turned her head towards the others, "Po's gone." Before anyone could respond she lifted a paw to stop them. Her left ear twitched as she heard a noise. "Did anyone else hear that?"

The five all craned their heads to listen for the noise. The noise came again and Viper furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out what and where the noise was coming from "Yeah we hear it now. It kind of sounds like the clatter of pots."

"I think it's coming from kitchen. I bet it's Po and he was just hungry so he got up early. Let's go check it out." Monkey then turned and walked towards the kitchen, followed by the others.

When they reached the kitchen they saw that monkey was right about the source of the noise coming from Po, but not what he was doing. The each stood still in shock at the feast Po had prepared.

Po was pouring tea into cups when he noticed the five 9in the doorway. "Oh, hey guys! It's good that you're all up. I made breakfast, but I wasn't sure what you guys wanted so I made different things," He said as he pointed out everything he made and his words kept coming out so fast that they started to sound like one big word. "Over here I made porridge, I have ..." He stopped to breath. "Some dumplings in case you're not that hungry. Oh and I made tea, there's oolong, pu'er, jasmine, chrysanthemum, and green tea." He stood there, smiling, completely oblivious to the five's expressions.

"Um, Po? Why so much?" Monkey took a step forward to look at the feast set out on the table.

"Huh?" Po looked at the food and realized just how much he made. Smiling awkwardly and placing a hand behind his neck, he laughed. "Yeah, I guess I made too much huh?"

The five took their place at the table while trying to decide what to eat. Monkey had already chosen a few of the dumplings and some jasmine tea, Crane picked out a bowl of porridge, Tigress picked up chopsticks and a plate of tofu, and Viper curled her tail around a cup and took a small sip, "So, what's the occasion for all of this, Po?"

"There's no occasion, I guess I just needed a distraction to keep my mind busy. I woke up early and I was all excited about today, so I thought I'd let out some energy by cooking, but I guess I kind of got carried away with all the food." He chuckled a bit before placing a dumpling in his mouth.

"Well, thank you for the meal, I just hope we can finish at least half of it." Viper smiled toward him.

"Well I don't think I can handle anymore. That last dumpling was too much, but it was really good." Mantis let out a big sigh of relief as he rubbed his stomach with his mandible.

Monkey lifted his cup to his mouth and finished off the rest of his tea, followed by another long sigh. He looked over towards Po and noticed that he has eaten nothing, but a dumpling and some tea. "Po, is something wrong? You haven't eaten much or did you already eat before this?"

"No, it's just that I want to leave as much room as possible for festival food." He rubbed his stomach and licked his lips, "I want try as many as I can, so I can't get full here. It's not everyday we get this chance."

They continued their meal with a few conversations here and there. In the end, they could only finish about half of the meal Po had prepared. The five stood up and left to prepare for the day while Po stayed behind to clean up. He fished quickly and headed out towards the entrance of the jade Palace to wait for the others. He sat down on the top step and tapped his hands on his knees at an even pace. From there he had a whole view of the Valley of Peace, from the bottom of the steps to all the way the entrance of the valley. He was too high up to see any details in the village. The only thing he could see were the buildings and could barely make out any of the villagers or visitors. The limitation of his eyesight only made him more impatient to go down to the valley and enjoy the festival.

"Why are you still here?" The voice was feminine, but still surprised Po, causing him to jump up a little.

Po looked behind him to see Tigress looking down at him. "Oh, hey, Tigress. I'm just waiting for you and the others to finish getting ready, so we can go down together."

"Well you do not have to wait for us. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind if you headed down to the village first."

"I don't think I should do that."

Tigress took a step closer to him and placed a paw on his shoulder. "You should go and have fun. You have been looking forward to this day more than anyone."

Po chuckled a bit and stood up, "Alright, I'll go, but can you come with me?"

She looked at him with a blank expression for about two seconds before changing it into a smile. "Sure, Po."

Po's happiness was clearly showing as his smile spread from one ear to the other. "Alright! Come on, let's go!" He raised both of his arms and ran down the stairs.

"Be careful, Po, running down the steps isn't such a good idea." She followed him and matched his pace so as to remain close to him as they descended down the stairs.

After a few minutes, they reached the bottom of the steps. They would have reached the end faster if Po had only heeded her warning about running down the steps. Luckily for him, Tigress was there to catch him from falling and bouncing the rest of the way down. Po could only stare at what he saw at the bottom of the steps. The villagers have always put their best efforts into preparing the village for celebrations and festivals, but now it seemed that what they have accomplished today couldn't even be compared to previous festivities. Po, was speechless as he took in the sight of the festival. The decorations were beautiful and placed with care, they were dozens of vendors that almost seemed to border a hundred, and the smell from the food was intoxicating. Both of his senses of sight and smell were in utter awe from the festival.

Tigress looked to her right to see that Po was practically jumping in place with glee. His silence made her worry a bit, "Are you alight?"

Po stopped moving and spoke with excitement in his voice. "I'm more than alright, I'm great! I just can't believe that this whole thing was made for us. I mean, I've been to festivals before, but this one is just so big and grand that it's a lot to take in, you know?."

"I understand. This is a pretty big celebration, but that just means a lot more things to do. So, what would you like to do first?"

"You're asking the impossible here, there's too many choices. Hmm I would like to eat, but I'd rather go look around before it gets even more crowded."

"Sure." Tigress agreed and walked next to Po.

There were so many diverse stands selling all kinds of merchandise, from souvenirs to all kinds of Chinese culinary sustenance. All of it looked wonderful, unfortunately, Tigress and Po were not able to visit any of them. As soon as they stepped on to the main street of the valley, they were immediately recognized by the patrons of the festival.

It started with one patron speaking out loud, "Hey, is that the Dragon Warrior?" This led to more, "Yeah, he is the Dragon Warrior! And I believe that's Master Tigress!" Soon, everyone within earshot and eyesight flocked toward Po and Tigress. They crowded around them, asking questions of all kinds, asking for autographs, and expressing their gratitude for their heroic deeds.

Po has had fans ever since he first defeated Tai Lung, but now he almost had no breathing room while being surrounded. _'They remind me of the way I acted before I joined the five at the palace' _he laughed at the memory and looked towards Tigress. "Is this how you and the others feel all the time?"

She turned her eyes toward him and smiled, "Only when you're around."

He laughed even harder at her joke and then returned his attention to the crowd. "Alright, everybody, one at a time, please. I may be the Dragon Warrior, but there's only one of me."

After two hours of hand shaking, listening to expressions of gratitude, and explaining the story of Gongmen city, they were finally able to walk away. The crowd had started to dwindle and move toward the center of the valley.

"Wow, so many fans. I knew I had fans, but not that many. This is getting more awesome by the minute." Po was waving at one of his fans as he walked away.

"Just don't let all of this go to your head."

Po nudged her in the arm with his elbow, "Don't worry, this is me we're talking about. It just feels great to know th-" Po stopped speaking as he was cut off by a loud noise that originated from his stomach. Po laughed shakily at the awkward moment "I guess in that whole chaos I forgot that I was hungry."

"Well, now that we're not surrounded you can pick out something to eat." Tigress looked and placed a paw on her stomach. She looked up at Po and smiled slightly, "I think I'm getting a bit peckish myself. Being around so much cuisine and scents is getting to me."

"Great! Let's go!" Po and Tigress walked towards the stand. The previous excitement was already building up in Po again as he was deciding what would become his new prey of his hunger. He was taking in the different scents of all the food that was being made, licking his lips in anticipation, and almost on the verge of drooling. "There are so many choices that I don't know where to begin. Why does the universe torment me so!" Po threw his head back and placed the back of his forearm against his eyes.

Tigress crossed her arms and sighed, "Po, quit being dramatic and just pick something."

Po recovered and slightly pouted and spoke in a whisper "No appreciation for theater."

Tigress' ear twitched as she heard his remark, "I heard that."

Po's eyes opened and laughed nervously, "uh yeah, about that food, we should pick something. How about tha-" however, he was interrupted again, but this time by someone.

"Dragon Warrior! Master Tigress!" The voice belonged to a middle-aged, male, pig. He ran to both of them and was out of breath by the time he reached them. He spoke in between breaths, "Dragon...Warrior and Master...Tigress, you're both needed...at the center of the village. It's...urgent."

Tigress walked and stopped in front of him and changed her tone to a more serious one. "What has happened? Can you tell us more?"

The villager recovered and replied with slight urgency in his voice "A few of the village elders asked me to find you two and ask that you both meet them at the center of the village and that you both hurry."

Tigress turned her head towards Po and gave him a a stern look. "Po, the food will have to wait, for now." She turned her body in the direction of the center of the village and lowered herself on to all four of her paws. "Let's go, Po." She took off at a fast pace with Po following behind.

They were nearing the center within almost a minute. The first thing they noticed was the huge crowd gathered around a big stage, set in the middle of everyone. They saw a few people on the stage and saw Crane, Viper, Monkey, and green spot on Monkey's shoulder, most likely Mantis, all gathered together. Both Tigress and Po thought that if they were all told to gather here then it must be a matter of the utmost importance. The crowd was packed tightly with little breathing room left so getting to the stage would be difficult. Tigress was about to jump over the people, but before she did one male goat noticed Po and her and began to cheer their names. Soon, others heard this and turned around to see the two Kung Fu warriors and they started spreading out, making a path that lead straight to the stage.

The two walked past so many people of all kinds of species yelling, "It's them!' and cheering, "The Dragon Warrior and Master Tigress!"

When they reached and climbed up on the stage Monkey was the first to speak, "Well, it's about time. First, you guys leave early without us or even warn us and now, you two show up late to this." Monkey crossed his arms and smiled to show that he wasn't really mad in the slightest.

"I guess you two couldn't wait to explore and have fun." Viper replied as she slithered closer to the two.

Po smiled as he looked at Viper, "Yeah I guess you could say that, well for me I kind of dragged Tigress with me," his smile faded as he remembered what he was told earlier, "but what is all of this? We were told that this was something very important and it was urgent that we get here as fast as possible. I kind of assumed it was like danger you know, like bandits or something."

Mantis hopped on Po's shoulder and laughed while holding his stomach with one mandible, "Danger? There's no danger...well, at least not for us Po." Po was confused by those words, but before he could question them Mantis continued, "We do need you both here, otherwise, we would not be able to start this whole thing."

Tigress was running out of patience and took a step closer to Mantis, "What, exactly, is this?"

Crane joined the group and pointed a wing towards a villager that was on stage, "She'll explain everything, just listen."

The villager was an elderly female rabbit that spoke much more loudly than you would expect from an elderly woman and her voice carried to all of the people watching around the stage. "Welcome one and all to the Valley of Peace Festival, honoring those who risked their lives and saved all of China. They are the Furious Five and the Dragon Warrior!" Everyone within the crowd began to clap and cheer as loud as they possibly could that the strength of the noise was lightly shaking the stage. When the cheering began to die down the woman resumed her speech, "Now that Master Tigress and the Dragon Warrior are her we can now begin," her voice grew louder as she neared the end of her speech, "all those who are participating prepare yourselves, the competition will soon begin!" Everyone cheered even louder than before, as some fists were raised in the air and some even whistled to express their excitement.

Po was still waving at a few people until he fully realized what the female rabbit had just said. He wore a confused look as he turned towards the Five, "Wait, what competition?"

**Chapter 9 – End**

**Hey there, I am so sorry for taking so long to update, I was having writers block and well, I wont bore you with the details, but my right arm was very badly damaged so it was difficult to do almost anything with it, but now it's much better. I know I probably lost fans, but those of you who stuck around, all I can say is thank you for giving this person another chance. And as a bonus I'll fill you in that I will be making a sequel to this story that will be like a movie, with action, maybe explosions, jokes, a good story, and maybe a 'skidoosh' in there. Thank you all that are reading this, you're the best, I'll try to update as soon as possible**


	10. Update

Hello, readers of Yin and Yang.

This is Aldebran and I am posting this to tell everyone that I am back and I apologize for the long wait. Some may have left and I don't blame any of them. I have been gone for a while and I would like to get back into writing again. So within the next two weeks I shall begin updating Yin and Yang. There are a few more chapters that I have not finished regarding that story. Afterwards I will begin on the sequel, Kung Fu Panda 3. For all the people that stayed with me, thank you for your patience and loyalty.

Aldebran


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